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.