Salvia pinguifolia, the Latin refers to Salvia the ability to save and the grease-leaf due to the texture of the Deltoid leaf which is covered with fine and coarse hairs when viewed with a loupe, hairy Rock sage, (formerly and concurrently known as Salvia ballotiflora var. pinguifolia). Its a perennial shrub here growing about 5 feet tall. It attracts many pollinators bees and butterflies, and sight of the plant is accompanied by a buzzing sound that says, abundance. It's a plant that describes a broader desert and like ocotillo moves thru the Mohave, Sonoran Chihuahua and trans-pecos bioregion.
It's presentation is a lot like Hyptis emoryi but Hyptis has a more concave spoon shaped leaf & it's flowers are not like Hyptis in whorls, the bright purple lower corolla lip is striking.
As a medicine it has warming astringent aromatics with a lavender like quality pronounced in the rich purple flowers. It would translate well into a warm gargle for sore throats. It also the mental clarity of desert lavender waking and invigorating the senses. It combines well with Encelia farinosa for asthmatic seasonal wheezing and chewing on the flowers produces a drying of secretions in the mucosa. It is a wonderful under used abundant Salvia that connects well with the bioregional herbalist.
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