1604 



SALTBUSHES 



progress of agriculture in the arid regions. Farmers 

 Bulletin No. 108, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, givus 1 

 pages of information. about Saltbushes. 



SALT-GKASS. Distichlis. 



SALT TKEE. Halimodendron argenteum. 



SALVIA (Latin, to keep safe or healthy; referring t 



<,;«. Sage. A 

 subshrubs and 

 Sage, Clary, S.- 

 plants. Salvia i 

 Labiata^ .1.-- i ii. 



SALVIA 



in the fls. (which are usually insignificant) 

 colored bracts or floral Ivs. at the tops of Iht 

 The various varieties are known as the 

 Clary, Ked-top Clary or White-top Clary; 

 Sage and Purple Sage. The two species ( 

 and Horminitm] seem to be much confused i 

 lot'ui'^. Imt ilic plants may be separated by 

 in^r i-liai-aib-r- : iln- upper lip of the caly 

 in .<. s.iur.ii. aii.l truncate in Hormim 



lip .if til I ilia N sickle-shaped and . 



Selarett,\mt M rai-ht Mi an.l la.nrav in // 

 cording to D.a 'aialnlir lnuli "f iIm-i' -i ■ 



and Showv ll-ral l.aMs. It l~ 1" I" 

 Voss' trfa'tmiMil -r i!,,. m., .|„.ri,.. .|: \ 



le follow- 



3-toothed 



; the upper 



iiLi . . I . I I-. 2241. The 



I ; : ; ; :m,- the two fer- 



lil-- aiilh. r-, ..!■ rallM I- a Ml lu-r cells. The 



jK lints ;i ;inil 4 indicate places where 

 other anther cells might be expected. In 

 some species of Salvia the points 3 and 

 4 are occupied by pollen-bearing anther 

 la-IN: ill .itli.r^ "liv sterile cells. The 

 lii.ilv rMiinr, till- l' and 4 is not the fila- 

 iih'iit. I, lit I li. iiiiiiipctive," the filament 

 liiiML- tlir -inallirliody which loins the 



-I-.' 1i. IM- .•..la.lla. Till- -vtiai- 



while the large bracts under the wlmrl- ..| i]..\m i ^ ai'- 

 green. However, DeCandoUe refers ti, >. >.;,wr,i i«,, 

 pictures in B.M. and B.R. where the -ituatimi i> re- 

 versed, i. e., the showy colored parts are the bracts un- 

 der the whorls of flowers and there are no sterile bracts 

 at the top. Moreover, the flowers in the cases just cited 

 are anything but insignificant, being fully an inch 

 long. 



Among the Salvias cultivated for ornament there are 

 two large cultural groups, the hardy and the tender. 

 The hardy species are mostly border plants, blooming 

 in s)iiiiiL'' and early suniiuer. The tender species are 



barely 

 2241. Section of I" Salv 



inth 



cells, 

 re forced 



bliterated 



Salvia solen- many cases 2 of the 



dens (X 1). or devoid of pollen. 

 Showing stmc- Within the generic limits of Salvia 

 ture of stamens, the variation Is astonishing. The color 

 of the fls. ranges from scarlet through 

 purple and violet to azure-blue, white and even pale 

 yellow, but there seems to be no good pure yel- 

 low. Pig. 2243 indicates something of the range in 

 form of corolla and calyx. Some flowers gape wide 

 open, others are nearly tubular. In some the upper 

 lip is longer than the lower, in other cases the lower 

 lip is longer than the upper. The lower lip is always 

 3-lobed, but frequently it does not appear to be so, for 

 the lateral lobes are iiimli leihieed while the midlobe 

 Is. greatly enlarr;e,l, ..It. n .lee|.ly lobed, and becomes 

 the showy part nl' tie- tl.ivMi, The calyx is small and 

 green in some, lai -i , rcl-ne,! ami showy in others. In 



many cases, as N. '.,.,, ,,»/,,. ii ..r,.lla and ealvx are 



of different ciiI'M^ I -i. i,- ,. i im it- r re and 



deciduous to a lar • - , : i, : • i i i r , -M-r than 



the fls. There ai . • • •' i !:■ ■ i-'i'l. --me- 



times 2, sometiiia - iii:iir . In ^|iih' .ii' 1 1m -, am! many 

 other wide variations, few atteiiiiits have been made to 

 split up Salvia into many genera, presumably from the 

 feeling that the structure of the stamens makes the 

 Salvias a natural, not an artificial group. 



Three Salvias are cultivated for their leaves, which 

 are used in seasoning and also in medicine. These are 

 the Common Sage, S. officinalis; Clary, S. Sclarea; 

 and S. Hormiiium. For the commercial cultivation of 

 Sage, see Sage. 



Clary is a perennial plant, but is cultivated as an 

 annual or biennial. The plants run to seed the second 

 year, after which it is better to pull up the old plants. 

 The seed may be sown in spring, in drills 12-20 in. 

 apart or in a seed bed, from which the seedlings are 

 pricked out in May. In August the first leaves may 

 be gathered and the plants will continue to yield until 

 June or July of the following year. 



Clary [S. Sclarea) anil its near relative. Salvia Hor- 

 minum, are plants of e\r, |it i.iiial interest. They are 



cultivated tor their culiiiar\ an. I i Ininal value and 



also for ornament, but tli.ir m uanu nial value lies not 



tant groups, the seal !■ ■■ n i j. i i <i iMi 



blue, purple, violet. ii: : i i ;; . i if 



the scarlet kinds -^- w",i"''"> i- im -i eaileil 



for; of the blue-fluwenil km. is. ,s. ,,.Wi „., is il„- ii,„st 

 popular of the bedding class, and 6'. fintteusis the 

 most popular of the hardy class. S. patens probalily 

 has the largest fls. of any of the blue-fld. kinds in 

 cultivation. 



The most widely used of all Salvias cultivated for 

 ornament is Sali-ia splcndens, or Scarlet Sage. This is 

 one of the most brilliant red-flowered bedding plants in 

 cultivation. It is generally grown in large masses. It 

 does best in full sunshine, but may be used in shady 

 places to light up dark woody recesses. It should have 

 a dark background of some kind by way of contrast. 



ell-managed 

 tained in full splen.l 

 It is propagated li>' < 

 troublesome to kei | 

 they are particular!) 



plants 



ss of Si'arlet Sage may be main- 

 ir fr-n, fie miiiaie of July to frost. 



. !• ! r seed. It is rather 



I- . I lilts over winter, as 



!\ 1 . , ,: ..lis of aphis and red 

 ■el"!! , in:|-riaiii to get seed of an 

 iety .if euinpa.'t habit, and to sow the 

 or In a frame in time to get good 

 lors in May. A good raceme is over 

 a foot long, with :JL) or more fls. in a raceme, and 2-6 fls. 

 in a whorl, each flower being 2 in. or more long. Some 

 varieties have erect racemes, others pendulous, and 

 there are white varieties, together with some inter- 

 mediate colors. A poorly managed bed of Scarlet Sage 

 gives a few flowers in September and is cut off in a 

 short time by frost. Wet seasons delay the bloom, 

 and if the so'il is too rich in nitrogen the plants will 

 make too much growth and the fls. will be late and rela- 

 tively few. The same principles of cultivation apply to 

 other tender Salvias used for bedding. Florists some- 

 times.lift a few plants of Scarlet Sage before frost, pot 

 them and find that they make attractive plants under 

 glass for a month or two. One advantage that Sa tria 

 spleudens has over many other red-fld. Salvias is that 

 its calyx is as brilliant scarlet as the corolla. 



Special attention is called to the supplementary list, 

 nearly every species of which is distinct at first sight 

 and seems worthy of cultivation. There are many 

 showy, bright red-flowered Salvias which i 



