About Salvia chiapensis Fernald
Salvia chiapensis Fernald, commonly called Chiapas sage, is a herbaceous perennial plant native to Chiapas, Mexico. It grows in cloud forests at elevations between 7000 and 9500 feet. It was introduced to horticulture in the 1980s, most likely from a collecting trip conducted by the University of California Botanical Garden, Berkeley. This plant reaches around 1.5–2 feet (0.46–0.61 m) in both height and width, with multiple stems growing from its rootstock. Its elliptic leaves measure 3 inches (76 mm) long and 1.5 inches (38 mm) wide; they are glossy ivy-green with deep veins, and are spaced widely apart along the stems. Chiapas sage produces bright fuchsia flowers that grow in whorls of 3 to 6, with the whorls spaced widely along the inflorescence. Each individual flower is 0.75 inches (19 mm) long, covered in fine hairs, and accompanied by a 0.5-inch-long (13 mm) pea-green calyx.
