Salvia mellifera

Black sage

Family: Lamiaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Black sage is a California native shrub found in coastal and southern California bioregions in coastal-sage scrub and lower chaparral at elevations below 1,350 meters. Flowering from March to June, this plant produces white to pale blue or lavender flowers in compact clusters up to 4 centimeters wide. Growing as an erect shrub 1 to 2 meters tall with glandular hairs, it has a distinctive branching structure. Its leaves are oblong-elliptic to obovate, 2.5 to 7 centimeters long, with a puckered surface that is nearly smooth on top and hairy underneath. The plant's small fruits are 2 to 3 millimeters long and generally brown in color.

Habitat: Coastal-sage scrub, lower chaparral

Bloom period: Mar-Jun

Elevation: < 1350 m

Bioregions: CW, SW

California counties: Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo, San Diego, San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange, Ventura, Santa Barbara, Contra Costa, Monterey, San Benito, Santa Clara, Stanislaus, Santa Cruz, Kern, Alameda, San Mateo, Fresno, Siskiyou, Amador, Marin, Merced, San Joaquin, Humboldt, Shasta, Colusa

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