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Salvia polystachia is a herbaceous perennial from the mountains of central Mexico and Central America, and it is one of the species whose seeds are used as chia. It is rarely grown in gardens, and it needs shelter from other plants because its stems are brittle.
Salvia polystachia, also spelt Salvia polystachya, is a herbaceous perennial native to central Mexico and south through Central America into Panama, typically growing at elevations from 5,000 to 10,000 feet in mild climates where there is some summer rain. It is one of the species used as chia and it is rarely seen in horticulture.
From the aerial parts of Salvia polystachia five neo-clerodane diterpenoids, polystachynes A-E, have been isolated. The structures were established by spectroscopic methods. Other clerodanes such as salvifaricin, linearolactone and dehydrokerlin were also isolated.
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 polystachia 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.
