Salvia przewalskii
Encyclopedia
Salvia przewalskii is a herbaceous perennial plant
native to the Chinese provinces of Gansu
, Hubei
, Sichuan
, Xizang, and Yunnan
, typically growing along stream banks, forest edges, among shrubs, and on granitic hillsides. It was described and named in 1881 by the Russian botanist Carl Maximowicz
after the Russian explorer and botanist Nikolai Przhevalsky
, who made several collecting trips to China in the 19th century. The plant is widely known throughout its native habitat for its medicinal properties.
Salvia przewalskii forms a basal clump of yellow-green leaves 1 to 2 feet (30 to 61 cm) high and wide, with flowering stalks rising 3 feet (91.4 cm) above the plant. The 6-12 inch (15 to 30 cm) leaves, with long petioles, have distinct veins on the underside. The inflorescence is branched, with widely spaced whorls of flowers opening a few at once. The 1 inch (2.54 cm) flowers are fat, with an unusual purple-red or red-brown color. The calyx is hairy and glandular, red-brown and two-lipped. It is usually seen only in botanical gardens, though seeds have become available for gardeners since the 1980s. Botanists have segregated the species into four varieties, distinguished by leaf shape and differences in the hairs covering the foliage.
Perennial plant
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter lived annuals and biennials. The term is sometimes misused by commercial gardeners or horticulturalists to describe only herbaceous perennials...
native to the Chinese provinces of Gansu
Gansu
' is a province located in the northwest of the People's Republic of China.It lies between the Tibetan and Huangtu plateaus, and borders Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Ningxia to the north, Xinjiang and Qinghai to the west, Sichuan to the south, and Shaanxi to the east...
, Hubei
Hubei
' Hupeh) is a province in Central China. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Lake Dongting...
, Sichuan
Sichuan
' , known formerly in the West by its postal map spellings of Szechwan or Szechuan is a province in Southwest China with its capital in Chengdu...
, Xizang, and Yunnan
Yunnan
Yunnan is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the far southwest of the country spanning approximately and with a population of 45.7 million . The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders Burma, Laos, and Vietnam.Yunnan is situated in a mountainous area, with...
, typically growing along stream banks, forest edges, among shrubs, and on granitic hillsides. It was described and named in 1881 by the Russian botanist Carl Maximowicz
Carl Maximowicz
Carl Johann Maximowicz was a Russian botanist. Maximowicz spent most of his life studying the flora of the countries he had visited in the Far East, and naming many new species...
after the Russian explorer and botanist Nikolai Przhevalsky
Nikolai Przhevalsky
Nikolai Mikhaylovich Przhevalsky and Prjevalsky, ; —), was a Russian geographer of Polish background and explorer of Central and Eastern Asia. Although he never reached his final goal, Lhasa in Tibet, he travelled through regions unknown to the west, such as northern Tibet, modern Qinghai and...
, who made several collecting trips to China in the 19th century. The plant is widely known throughout its native habitat for its medicinal properties.
Salvia przewalskii forms a basal clump of yellow-green leaves 1 to 2 feet (30 to 61 cm) high and wide, with flowering stalks rising 3 feet (91.4 cm) above the plant. The 6-12 inch (15 to 30 cm) leaves, with long petioles, have distinct veins on the underside. The inflorescence is branched, with widely spaced whorls of flowers opening a few at once. The 1 inch (2.54 cm) flowers are fat, with an unusual purple-red or red-brown color. The calyx is hairy and glandular, red-brown and two-lipped. It is usually seen only in botanical gardens, though seeds have become available for gardeners since the 1980s. Botanists have segregated the species into four varieties, distinguished by leaf shape and differences in the hairs covering the foliage.