About Salvia longispicata M.Martens & Galeotti
Salvia longispicata is a perennial shrub native to southwestern Mexico. It grows at elevations between 1,000 and 6,500 feet (300 and 2,000 m). The specific epithet "longispicata" suggests that the plant produces "long spikes", but it actually refers to the plant's many projecting clusters of short flowering spikes that resemble small ears of corn. Salvia longispicata is a large, fast-growing Salvia, reaching 4 to 5 feet (1.2 to 1.5 m) high and 3 to 4 feet (0.9 to 1.2 m) wide in a single growing season. While it is not particularly showy, it bears unusual dark purple flowers and has an upright growth habit. Both of these characteristics are valued by salvia hybridizers. Its mid-green ovate leaves vary in size, and attach to the petiole at their broader end. Its small dark purple flowers, which are less than 0.5 inches (1 cm) long, begin opening in summer and continue blooming into late autumn. The pale green calyces are approximately the same length as the flower. The 6 to 8 inches (15 to 20 cm) inflorescences bear tight whorls of flowers, which do not rise above the foliage like the flowers of many other Salvia species do. In 1979, a spontaneous sterile hybrid was found at Huntington Library; it was thought to be a cross between Salvia longispicata and S. farinacea. This hybrid was introduced as the highly popular Salvia farinacea × longispicata 'Indigo Spires'. Other cultivars of this hybrid include 'Mystic Spires Blue'.
