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Lepechinia hastata
Also called Baja Pitcher Sage, Cape Pitcher Sage, False Salvia, Island Pitcher Sage, Pakata
Lepechinia hastata is a rare, aromatic perennial shrub in the mint family, grown as an ornamental for its arrowhead-shaped leaves and purple-magenta flowers. It tolerates poor, dry soil and does best with afternoon shade.
Lepechinia hastata is a rare species of perennial shrub in the mint family commonly known as the Cape pitcher sage or Baja pitcher sage. Lepechinia hastata is an aromatic shrub characterized by large, arrowhead-shaped leaves and attractive purple to magenta flowers. In the wild, it is known from the forested mountains of the Sierra de la Laguna in Baja California Sur and the volcanic Socorro Island in the Pacific Ocean, both part of Mexico. The plants of Socorro Island are their own subspecies, and differ in their white flowers and wooly, grayer foliage.
It is also found on the Hawaiian island of Maui where it is known as pakaha. It is unclear if the Hawaiian plants are introduced or represent a natural disjunct population. In horticulture, this plant is a widely-cultivated ornamental.
This species has been used historically as a remedy to treat uterine infections.
Woodbalm · Santa Ana pitchersage · Island pitchersage · San Diego pitchersage · Lepechinia leucophylloides · Lepechinia mutica · Lepechinia paniculata · Ross' pitcher sage · Lepechinia rufocampi · Pitchersage
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Lepechinia hastata by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
