Salvia munzii

Munz's sage

Family: Lamiaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 2B.2

Munz's sage is a rare California native shrub ranked 2B.2 by CNPS, found in the southern Peninsular Ranges, specifically in the San Miguel Mountains of San Diego County, within coastal-sage scrub and lower chaparral habitats at elevations below 800 meters. Flowering from January to May, this plant produces dark blue flowers with a corolla tube 7 to 15 millimeters long, creating small clusters 1 to 1.5 centimeters wide. Growing as a compact shrub less than 2.5 meters tall, it features stems with simple, appressed hairs and an upright, dense structure. Its leaves are distinctively oblanceolate to obovate, 1.3 to 5 centimeters long, with a puckered texture, appearing nearly smooth on the upper surface and densely hairy underneath. The shrub produces small dark brown fruits approximately 1 millimeter in size, complementing its intricate floral and foliage characteristics.

Habitat: Coastal-sage scrub, lower chaparral

Bloom period: Jan-May

Elevation: < 800 m

Bioregions: s PR (San Miguel Mtns, San Diego Co.)

California counties: San Diego, Alameda

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