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Lamiaceae Taxonomy Browser
Salvia mellifera Greene
EOL Text
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This species can be found in the following regions of the western United States (according to the Bureau of Land Management classification of Physiographic Regions of the western United States):
3 Southern Pacific Border
7 Lower Basin and Range
More info for the term: shrub
Shrub
CA MEXICO
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More info for the term: formation
Black sage is a herbaceous perennial that becomes woody at the base
[26]. Plants die back somewhat in the winter and produce new growth in
the spring. Like many associated coastal sage scrub dominants, black
sage is a semideciduous or seasonally dimorphic species [52]. Large
leaves develop on main shoots during the winter when moisture is most
abundant and these are dropped over the summer drought period. Smaller,
axillary leaves are produced immediately following the formation of
main-shoot leaves but are retained until the following winter [52,53].
Black sage typically blooms from March to June [9,40]. Flowering
coincides with the early season activity of solitary, native bees [9].
Phenological development of black sage on chaparral sites in the Santa
Monica Mountain foothills is presented below [48]:
growth initiated September - following autumnal
rains
main period of stem elongation March - late May
flower stalks dried June
early season leaves dropped June
stem growth terminated June
United States
Rounded National Status Rank: NNR - Unranked
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | NatureServe |
Source | http://explorer.natureserve.org/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Salvia+mellifera |
More info for the term: dehiscent
Black sage is a native, semideciduous, subligneous, malacophyllous
(soft-leaved) subshrub that grows between 3.3 and 6.6 feet (1-2 m) tall
[16,21,32,40,55]. Plants are openly branched and spreading [16,40,47].
The square stems are green or purple when young but turn brownish-gray
with age [2]. The aromatic leaves are dark green and wrinkled above
with lighter-colored undersides [2,40]. Flowers are 0.5 inch (1.25 cm)
long, pale blue or white, and arranged in compact whorls spaced at
intervals along the flowering stalk [2,40]. The fruit is a smooth, dark
brown, dehiscent nutlet approximately 0.08 inch (2 mm) long [22,40].
Black sage is shallow rooted [16]. The much branched and fibrous root
system rarely extends 2 feet (0.6 m) below the soil surface with the
majority of roots concentrated in the top 5 inches (12.5 cm) of soil
[14,16]. Longevity of black sage is estimated at 20 to 30 years
[16,32].
Rounded Global Status Rank: G5 - Secure
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | NatureServe |
Source | http://explorer.natureserve.org/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Salvia+mellifera |
Black sage typically occurs at low elevations on the coastal and inland
sides of the California Coast Range. Sites include dry slopes and
benches below 3,000 feet (915 m) [2,40]. Dominant Salvia species
segregate by moisture preference within coastal sage scrub communities
[51,54]. Relative to other Salvias, black sage occupies more mesic
habitats [28,29,51]. It is common on coarse-textured soils including
those derived from unconsolidated sand, limestone, sandstone, and
serpentine [16,28,51]. Within Venturan coastal sage scrub communities,
black sage prefers coarser-textured soils and more southerly aspects
than purple sage [54]. Whereas annual precipitation on black sage
dominated sites may average 14.5 inches (36.2 cm), sites dominated by
purple sage receive 13.6 inches (33.9 cm) of annual precipitation [54].
Although black sage may occur as scattered individuals [4] or intermixed
with other Salvia species, it often forms pure, monospecific stands that
extend over large areas [28,51,54].
More info for the terms: natural, shrub
Black sage is a shrub component of coastal sage scrub, chaparral, and
desert scrub communities throughout much of California [10,20,34].
Published classifications listing black sage as a dominant component of
the vegetation are presented below.
Preliminary descriptions of the terrestrial natural communities of
California [15]
Vegetation types of the San Bernadino Mountains [17]
The community composition of California coastal sage scrub [28]
A vegetation classification system applied to southern California [42]
Common associates include [12,15,28,51,54]:
Coastal sage scrub: California sagebrush (Artemisia californica),
California buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum), white sage,
purple sage, California encelia (Encelia californica), common
deerweed (Lotus scoparius), lemonade sumac (Rhus integrifolia),
chaparral yucca (Yucca whipplei), bush monkeyflower (Mimulus
aurantiacus), bluedick (Brodiaea pulchella), brome (Bromus
spp.), filaree (Erodium spp.), mustards (Brassica spp.), and
schismus (Schismus spp.).
Chaparral: chamise (Adenostoma fasciculatum), white sage,
ceanothus (Ceanothus spp.), manzanita (Arctostaphylos spp.),
laurel sumac (Malosma laurina), California buckwheat, and poison-oak
(Toxicodendron diversilobum).
Desert scrub: creosotebush (Larrea tridentata), white
burrobush (Hymenolea salsola), and staghorn cholla (Opuntia
echinocarpa).