MINT FAMILY. 459 



Herbage wliite-wooUy; bracts much surpasBing the flowers; upper calyx- 

 lip 3-toothed, the lateral distant from the middle one 



1. S. carduacea. 

 Herbage green; bracts not exceeding the flowers ; teeth ol upper calyx-lip 



2, awned, partly connate 2. S. Columbanse. 



Lower end of connective reduced to a subulate point or slender thread, the 

 iilament apparently simple; flower whorls several; perennials. 

 Corolla white, whitish, or violet-tinged. 

 Low shrub; middle lobe of lower lip of corolla emarginate, otherwise 



entire; upper lip present 3. S. mellifera. 



Low matted herb, only the scape-like flowering^ stems ascending; middle 

 lobe of lower lip ol corolla denticulate or fringed ; upper lip obsolete. 



4. S, Sonomensis. 

 Corolla crimson, IJ4 in. long or more ; herbaceous, stems erect 



5. .S". spathacea. 



1. S. carduacea Bentli. Thistle-sage. Herbage wliite-woolly, 

 particularly in tlie flower whorls, the wool more or less deciduous; 

 stems 1, 2 or 3 from a rosette of radical leaves, naked and scape-like, 

 bearing 1 to 4 whorls of flowers, 4 in. to 2 ft. high; leaves oblong in 

 outline, .pinnatifld, with spinulose-dentate margin, the radical 6 in. 

 longer less; bracts ovate-lanceolate or lanceolate, pectinate-splneseent, 

 surpassing the flowers; calyx long-woolly, its upper lip strongly 

 3-toothed, the middle tooth larger, the lateral distant, much sur- 

 passing the lower lip; corolla light blue, deeply 2-lipped, 1 in. long; 

 upper lip 2-cleft, the segments laciniate or denticulate at the end; 

 lower lip with small erose lateral lobes and an exceedingly large 

 fan-shaped and laciniately fringed middle lobe; proper filament very 

 short. 



Inner South Coast Range valleys (Contra Costa Co. and south- 

 waini) and throughout the San Joaquin Valley; Southern California. 

 June. 



2. S. Columbariae Benth. Chia. Herbage finely pubescent, 

 dark green; stems usually several from the base, commonly simple 

 and bearing 1 or 2 pairs of leaves and 1 or 2 whorls of flowers, occa- 

 sionally branching; leaves mostly radical or subradical, hipinnatifid, 

 very rugose, petioled; bracts ovate or more commonly orbicular and 

 broader than long, abrupth- acuminate and cuspidate-tipped, not 

 exceeding the flowers, often purple; fruiting calyx 5 lines long, 

 oblique at the throat; upper lip arched, crowned with a pair of 

 needle-like prickles, the prickle representing the middle tooth want- 

 ing; lower lip very much shorter, the teeth represented by 2 shorter 

 prickles; corolla blue, little exceeding the calyx; upper lip emargi- 

 nate; lower lip with small lateral lobes and a larger somewhat 2-lobed 

 middle one. 



Throughout the Coast Ranges, Sierra Nevada, and Southern Cali- 

 fornia, on hill and mountain slopes. Apr.-May. 



3. S. mellifera Greene. Black Sage. Shrubby, 3 to 6 ft. 

 high, with herbaceous flowering branches very leafy at the base; 

 leaves narrowly oblong, petioled, IJ to 3 in. long, crenulate, green 

 and rugulose above, einereous-tomentulose beneath; flowering branches 

 with about 5 rather small flower-whorls; leafy bracts oblong or ovate, 

 those subtending the upper whorls much reduced; proper bracts ovate or 



