Salvia microphylla
species of plant
Salvia microphylla, synonyms including Salvia grahamii, Salvia lemmonii and Salvia neurepia; the baby sage, Graham's sage, or blackcurrant sage, is an evergreen shrub found in the wild in southeastern Arizona and the mountains of eastern, western, and southern Mexico. It is a very complex species which easily hybridizes, resulting in numerous hybrids and cultivars brought into horticulture since the 1990s. The specific epithet microphylla, from the Greek, means "small leaved". In Mexico it is called mirto de montes, or "myrtle of the mountains".
Description
Salvia microphylla grows to 1 to 1.3 m (3.3 to 4.3 ft) tall and wide, blooming in its first year and growing to full size in its second year. The leaves are ovate shaped, of varying sizes, and smooth or lightly covered with hairs. When crushed, the leaves have a strong fragrance, which has been described as pleasant and mint-like, but also as similar to that of blackcurrants, leading to the use of "blackcurrant sage” as an English name for this species. It sometimes spreads underground, producing dense patches.
Along with its cultivars and hybrids, S. microphylla blooms heavily in late spring and again in autumn, with sporadic flowering year-round in mild conditions. The flowers are arranged in whorls, with a wide range of color: magenta, red, pink, and rose.
The public source identifies “Salvia microphylla” as species of plant. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Salvia, microphylla and species.
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Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2705479. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Salvia microphylla” 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.