General: Mojave Sage (Salvia mohavensis) is a rounded shrub with unusual flowers. The inflorescence are papery clusters (white to dark blue) at the ends of flower stalks with blue, tubular flowers about 3/4- to 1-inch long that extend out from the papery clusters. Tubular flowers with single upper lip and three longer lower lips. The leaves are long-oval with petioles and a distinctive crinkly texture.

The tubular flowers are asymmetrical with one upper corolla-lobe and three lower lobes. The middle-lower-corolla-lobe is long and narrow.

Mojave Sage is an uncommon component of vegetation communities on well-drained sandy, gravelly, and rocky soils on upper bajadas into the lower mountains in the Upper Sonoran (Mojave Desert Scrub and Pinyon-Juniper Woodland) life zone.

Family: Mint (Lamiaceae).

Other Names:

Plant Form: upright, spreading shrub.

Height: Usually about shin- to knee-high; to about 3 feet.

Bark:

Stems: Square in cross section.

Leaves: Oblong to oval, to 2-inchs long; edges with small, rounded teeth; crinkled (puckered) surfaces.

Flowers: Blooms summer through fall. Inflorescence: papery clusters, usually 1 at the end of each flower stalk. Flower: blue; tubular 3/4- to 1-inch long; asymmetrical (appears as 4 petals); flowers originate from the papery clusters; stamens and style protrude from the flower tube, stamens yellow. Width of middle lower corolla lobe relatively long and narrow (less than half its length).

Seeds: Fruit: Small brown nutlet.

Habitat: Dry, well-drained sandy, gravelly, and rocky soils on upper bajadas and moderate slopes in the lower mountains.

Elevation: About 1,000 to 5,000 feet.

Distribution: Southern California and Arizona.

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