Salvia chapmanii A. Gray

Chapman's Nettle Leaf Sage

Herb

Perennial

Vascular

Chapman's Nettle Leaf Sage is a native herbaceous perennial in the Mint family (Lamiaceae). It is native to the southern third of Alabama. Chapman's Nettle Leaf Sage occurs in prairies, in cedar glades, in open hardwood forests, and along roadsides and power line corridors. It is a perennial with a large rhizome. Stems are 3-6 feet in height, branched in the distal 1/3, green in color, pubescent, and 4-angled. Leaves are opposite, petiolate with winged petioles, ovate to rhombic in outline, pubescent and gland-dotted, with serrate margins. All parts of the plant have a mint odor when crushed. Flowers occur in terminal and axillary inflorescences. The calyx is green, 5-toothed, pubescent and gland-dotted. The corolla is two-lipped, purple in color with a white spot on the lower lip. The corolla is pubescent and gland-dotted. The fruit is a nutlet that is densely resin dotted on the distal end. This species is very similar to Salvia urticifolia in leaf shape and flower color. However, S. chapmanii is 1.5+ m tall and flowers in Sep-Oct while S. urticifolia is less than a meter tall and flowers in Apr-May.--A. Diamond

**

Native

Keener, B.R. and A.R. Diamond, Jr. in Weakley et al. 2018. New combinations, rank changes, and nomenclatural and taxonomic comments in the vascular flora of the southeastern United States, III. J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 12: 45–49.