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Salvia leucantha
Also called Curacao Sage
Mexican bush sage is a tender herbaceous perennial in the mint family, grown for its arching blue or purple flower spikes that attract pollinators. It thrives in full sun and well-drained soil and is not frost hardy.
Salvia leucantha, or Mexican bush sage, is a herbaceous perennial plant in the family Lamiaceae that is native to subtropical and tropical conifer forests in central and eastern Mexico. The flowers are usually white, emerging from coloured bracts. It is not frost hardy, but is often grown in warmer latitudes for its prominent arching velvety blue or purple inflorescences.
It grows up to 1.3 m (4.3 ft) high and 2 m (6.6 ft) wide, with numerous erect stems, often arching at their tips, and with long inflorescences. The linear-lanceolate leaves are a soft mid-green, with whitish, hairy undersides.
This plant has ornamental value in the garden, and has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. It is a low-maintenance plant that grows best in full sun and moist but well-drained soils. Flowers attract butterflies, bees and hummingbirds.
A recent analysis of the essential oil of S. leucantha found it to be rich in the sesquiterpene hydrocarbons; β-caryophyllene, α-guaiene, cis-muurola-3,5-diene, germacrene D, and bicyclogermacrene. Bornyl acetate constituted 23.9% of the oil.
Egyptian Sage · Mediterranean sage · White sage · Brown Sage · Santa Rosa Island sage · Buchanan's Sage · Guatemalan Leaf Sage · Candelabra Sage · Cayman sage · Fragrant sage · Blood sage · Chia
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Salvia leucantha 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.
