Salvia dorrii

Desert sage

Family: Lamiaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Desert sage is a California native shrub found in rocky, dry habitats at elevations where arid landscapes dominate. Flowering from May to July, this plant produces blue to purple flowers in compact clusters 12 to 30 millimeters wide, with an elegant and subtle coloration. Growing as a spreading or mat-forming shrub 10 to 70 centimeters tall, it has a distinctive densely white-scaly appearance that helps it blend into desert environments. Its leaves are linear to spoon-shaped, relatively entire, creating a soft and muted texture against the plant's structural form. The flowers feature a distinctive blue calyx 6 to 11 millimeters long, with upper and lower lip configurations that attract specialized pollinators in its arid habitat.

California counties: San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Inyo, Riverside, Kern, Tulare, Modoc, Lassen, San Diego, Siskiyou

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.