Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk (PIER)

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Salvia leucantha
Cav., Lamiaceae
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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  High risk; score: 12 (Hawaii-Pacific Weed Risk Assessment for Salvia leucantha)

Other Latin names:  Salvia bicolor Sessé & Moc.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: Mexican bush sage

Habit:  herb

Description:  Salvia (genus): "Annual or perennial herbs or shrubs. Lvs simple to pinnately lobed or compound. Infl axillary, verticils 2- to many-flwd, or in terminal racemes. Flw cal 2-lipped, teeth unqeual, upper lip 3-toothed, lower lip deeply 2-toothed; cor 2-lipped; fertile stam 2, connective elongate, anth with 1 fertile cell operating like a teeter-totter. Frt (nutlets) ovoid, 3-angled." (A Tropical Garden Flora, p. 362)

Salvia leucantha: "A shrubby species, it reaches 3-4' in height and resembles common sage [PIER ed.: see below] in overall appearance but can be distinguished by leaves that are up to 4" long with notched margins; typically fewer-flowered inflorescence whorls that are more widely spaced on the axis; smaller flowers; a densly violet- to lavendar-hairy, tubular or ovoid calyx up to 0.5" long; and a white, slightly curved corolla tube up to 0.5" long, the upper lip up to 0.3" long, the lower lip 2-lobed, the lobes sickle-shaped." (A Tropical Garden Flora, p. 363)

Salvia officinalis ("common sage"): Shrub to 2.5' tall; stems leafy up to apex. Lf peti 0.5-1.2" long; blades oblong to narrowly elliptic, 1-1.5" long, 0.25-0.5" wide, upper side puckered, gray-green, underside ±pale grayish-hairy, base ±wedge-shaped to rounded, margins entire. Infl terminal, erect, a crowded raceme of 5-10-flwd verticils. Flw cal bell-shaped, 0.4-0.55" long, gland-dotted, glabrous to ashy-hairy; cor pale violet, pinkish, or white, tube to 0.6" long, upper lip to 0.4" long." (A Tropical Garden Flora, p. 362)

See also Flora Vitiensis nova, vol 5, p. 240.

Habitat/ecology:  "Mexican bush sage [PIER ed.: Salvia leucantha] thrives in hot, sunny locations. . . ." (A Tropical Garden Flora, p. 363)

"Winter hardy to USDA Zones 8-10. In St. Louis, it is grown as an annual in average to rich, evenly moist, well-drained soils in full sun. Tolerates some light afternoon shade, but generally is best in full sun. Also tolerates some drought, but does best with regular moisture." (Missouri Botanical Garden)

Propagation:  "Mexican bush sage [PIER ed.: Salvia leucantha] is propagated by 3" woody cuttings or division of mature plants." (A Tropical Garden Flora, p. 363)

Native range:  "Native to central and eastern Mexico. . . ." (A Tropical Garden Flora, p. 363)

". . .native to Central America and Mexico." (Missouri Botanical Garden)

Impacts and invaded habitats:  Salvia leucantha is cited as naturalised and a weed in various parts of the world (see PIER Presence data), and as invasive in the Canary Islands. (Global Compendium of Weeds (see also details of GCW terms)

If you know of other invaded habitats or impacts, please let us know.

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. &
Island group
Location Cited status &
Cited as invasive &
Cited as cultivated &
Cited as aboriginal introduction?
Reference &
Comments
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands)
Galápagos Islands
Galápagos Islands introduced
R.P. Randall (2007)
Introduced plants in Galapagos. Introduced Species Registered in the Charles Darwin Research Station Herbarium as present in Galapagos (616 species, not including questionably native species), November 2004. (naturalised)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands)
Galápagos Islands
Galápagos Islands cultivated
Randall, R. P. (2017) (p. 3014)
Fiji
Fiji Islands
Viti Levu Island introduced
cultivated
Smith, Albert C. (1991) (p. 240)
"A single Fijian collection, obtained in 1969, gives no real indication of the date of its introduction.¶Use: A garden ornamental." (Flora Vitiensis nova, vol 5, p. 240)
State of Hawaii
Hawaiian Islands
Hawai‘i (Big) Island   Consortium of Pacific Herbaria (2018) (p. 3014)
State of Hawaii
Hawaiian Islands
Hawaiian Islands cultivated
Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral R. (2005) (p. 363)
Tonga
Tongatapu Group
Tongatapu Island   Consortium of Pacific Herbaria (2018) (p. 3014)
Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. &
Island group
Location Cited status &
Cited as invasive &
Cited as cultivated &
Cited as aboriginal introduction?
Reference &
Comments
Australia
Australia
Australia   Randall, R. P. (2017) (p. 3014)
Australia
Australia (continental)
New South Wales introduced
R.P. Randall (2007)
John Hosking, NSW Department of Agriculture, Weed Database 30 April 2003 (naturalised); Wildlife Atlas CAPS plant taxa - Census of Plants in New South Wales National Parks? New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service. (weed)
Central America
Central America (Pacific rim)
Costa Rica (Republic of) introduced
cultivated
R.P. Randall (2007)
Eduardo Chac#n and Guido Sabor#o-R (2003) LISTA DE ESPECIES DE PLANTAS INTRODUCIDAS EN COSTA RICA. Asociaci#n para la Conservaci#n y el Estudio de la Biodiversidad (ACEBIO) [edchacon@gmail.com & gsaborio@gmail.com.] (cultivation escape, naturalised)
Central America
Central America (Pacific rim)
Costa Rica (Republic of) cultivated
Randall, R. P. (2017) (p. 3014)
South America (Pacific rim)
South America (Pacific rim)
Colombia   Randall, R. P. (2017) (p. 3014)
South America (Pacific rim)
South America (Pacific rim)
Perú (Republic of)   Randall, R. P. (2017) (p. 3014)
Also reported from
Country/Terr./St. &
Island group
Location Cited status &
Cited as invasive &
Cited as cultivated &
Cited as aboriginal introduction?
Reference &
Comments
Africa
Africa
Africa   Randall, R. P. (2017) (p. 3014)
Africa
Africa
Africa (central) cultivated
R.P. Randall (2007)
Cultivated and/or Exotic Plants in Central Africa (R.D.Congo - Rwanda - Burundi). (list provisional)13-03-2005 This list gives an extremely incomplete image of the horticulture in central Africa (R.D. Congo, Rwanda, Burundi). (weed)
Africa
Africa
Cape Verde   Randall, R. P. (2017) (p. 3014)
Africa
Africa
Congo   Randall, R. P. (2017) (p. 3014)
Africa
Africa
Eritrea   Randall, R. P. (2017) (p. 3014)
Africa
Africa
Ethiopia   Randall, R. P. (2017) (p. 3014)
Africa
Africa
Rwanda   Randall, R. P. (2017) (p. 3014)
Canary Islands
Canary Islands
Canary Islands invasive
Randall, R. P. (2017) (p. 3014)
Europe
Europe
Europe   Randall, R. P. (2017) (p. 3014)
Europe
Europe
Portugal   Randall, R. P. (2017) (p. 3014)
Europe
Europe
Spain   Randall, R. P. (2017) (p. 3014)
India
India
India (Republic of)   Randall, R. P. (2017) (p. 3014)
South America (non-Pacific rim)
South America (non-Pacific rim)
Bolivia   Randall, R. P. (2017) (p. 3014)
World
World
Worldwide cultivated
Randall, R. P. (2017) (p. 3014)

Comments:  cultivated in Hawaii (A Tropical Garden Flora, p. 363)

cultivated in Fiji as an ornamental (Flora Vitiensis nova, vol 5, p. 240)

Control:  If you know of control methods for Salvia leucantha, please let us know.


Need more info? Have questions? Comments? Information to contribute? Contact PIER! (pier@hear.org)

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This page was created on 12 SEP 2017 and was last updated on 10 JAN 2019.