Intro: Erect, weedy perennial of lawns, woodlands, roadsides, floodplains and calcareous barrens.

Stems: Stems 4-angled, simple or branched from the base, lightly hairy.

Leaves: Leaves primarily basal, petiolate, oblong-oval in outline, pinnately lobed and suggesting a lyre-shape, often tinged or marked with dark reddish-purple, lightly hairy (sometimes smooth).

Inforescence:

Flowers: Flowers in widely spaced whorls in a loose, terminal spike (additional flowers may occur on branches subtended by small leaves); pale blue to lavender; 1/2-1 1/4 in. long; bilaterally symmetric; tubular and opening to 2 gaping lips, the upper entire or 2-lobed and the lower 3-lobed.

Fruits:

Comments:

Height: 1-2 ft.

plant sale text: Lyre-leaf Sage is a low-growing SE native perennial with attractive evergreen foliage and short spikes of lavender flowers. It is useful as a groundcover, planted at the edge of a flower bed, or massed in a lawn or meadow. This species is likely to seed around and is probably not a good choice for a tidy garden. It is an attractive plant and a good nectar source for pollinators including hummingbirds.

bloom table text: This native perennial has a beautiful garden presence throughout the calendar year. The evergreen rosettes can become a groundcover worthy of replacing any lawn. It can be mowed. It will survive a drought and periodic flooding. When in flower, this Salvia produces a 1-2 ft. tall terminal spike with lavender blue flowers arranges in whorls around the stem. Not only is it one of the first seed crops the goldfinches rely on, it is horticulturally spectacular when paired with Coreopsis auriculata (Lobed Tickseed) or Oenothera fruticosa (Southern Sundrops). Here at NCBG we also have on display and for sale, an attractive red leaf form of valuable springtime plant.

description: Erect, weedy perennial of lawns, woodlands, roadsides, floodplains and calcareous barrens.

stems: Stems 4-angled, simple or branched from the base, lightly hairy.

leaves: Leaves primarily basal, petiolate, oblong-oval in outline, pinnately lobed and suggesting a lyre-shape, often tinged or marked with dark reddish-purple, lightly hairy (sometimes smooth).

inflorescence:

flowers: Flowers in widely spaced whorls in a loose, terminal spike (additional flowers may occur on branches subtended by small leaves); pale blue to lavender; 1/2-1 1/4 in. long; bilaterally symmetric; tubular and opening to 2 gaping lips, the upper entire or 2-lobed and the lower 3-lobed.

fruits:

comments:

cultural notes:

germination code: 1

native range: eastern United States