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Purple Sage
Scientific Name:
Salvia dorrii
Type:
Herbaceous Plant
Habitat:
Mountainous areas with dry soil
Range:
Western United States
Status:
No listed status
This species is
NATIVE
to the Truckee Meadows.
Identification:
Purple sage, also called Dorr’s sage, is a fragrant, herbaceous perennial or woody shrub with rough, peeling bark. It grows up to 36 inches in diameter and up to 32 inches high. Purple sage eaves are soft and silvery, like other plants we call sage, and they can grow to 4 centimeters long and 1.5 centimeters wide. Around Reno, the blue-purple flowers bloom in May.
Fast Facts:
“Salvia,” the name of the genus, comes from Latin salveo, meaning “I am well.”
While found throughout the arid western states, purple sage is also used as an ornamental plant.
Purple sage has historically been used by many indigenous American tribes for a wide array of medicinal purposes, including treating colds, headaches, influenza, and epilepsy.
Sources:
USDA Plants Database, Purple Sage, 2021, https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SADO4
California Native Plant Society, Purple Sage, 2021, https://calscape.org/Salvia-dorrii-()
Image: Walter Siegmund, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Salvia_dorrii_8130.JPG, license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en, cropped from original
Image: Jim Morefield, https://www.flickr.com/photos/127605180@N04/15316476053/, license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/, cropped from original
Contributor(s):
Jill Katz (research & content)
Alex Shahbazi (edits & page design)