Salvia ballotiflora
species of plant

Salvia ballotiflora is a species of flowering plant in the mint family, Lamiaceae, that is native to Texas in the United States as well as northeastern and central Mexico. Common names include shrubby blue sage and mejorana.
Description
Shrubby blue sage is a shrub, growing to a height of 1.2–1.8 m (3.9–5.9 ft) with a spread half of that. The ovate leaves are 1.5–3.8 cm (0.59–1.50 in) long and have serrated or wavy margins. Trichomes on the upper and lower surfaces of the leaves give them a rough texture. Its profuse light blue to purple flowers are less than 1.3 cm (0.51 in) in length and are produced from April to October.
Habitat and range
Salvia ballotiflora is found in the Edwards Plateau and Tamaulipan mezquital of southern and western Texas. Its range in Mexico includes the states of Coahuila, Durango, Hidalgo, Nuevo León, and Zacatecas. It prefers alkaline soils, such as those of limestone canyons.
Uses
The leaves of shrubby blue sage are used for flavoring foods.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Salvia ballotiflora” is species of plant. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Salvia, ballotiflora and species, not as a finished interpretation.
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The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 28, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q769916. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Salvia ballotiflora” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.