General: Mojave Sage (Salvia mohavensis) is a rounded, upright shrub with unusual flowers. The inflorescence are papery, spherical clusters at the ends of flower stalks with blue, tubular flowers about 3/4 inch long the extend upward from the papery clusters.

Mojave Sage is a fairly common component of vegetation communities on well-drained sandy, gravelly, and rocky soils in washes and on upper bajadas and moderate slopes 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 3/4 inch long; edges with small, rounded teeth; glandular hairs.

Flowers: Blooms summer through fall. Inflorescence: papery, spherical clusters, usually 1 at the end of each flower stalk. Flower: blue; tubular to 3/4 inch long; asymmetrical (but appears as 5 petals); flowers originate from the papery clusters and extend upward; stamens and style protrude from the flower tube, stamens yellow.

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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