Re: Bat-faced Salvia (Was Re: Pro-mix (Was: Re: baking dirt))

At 10:35 PM 12/25/99 -0500, you wrote:
 >I haven't been following this discussion, just happened to read this one
>while waiting for pics to download.  Salvias are of the Mint family and as
>far as I know, all have square stems.  Dave, who is our perennial expert
>says that what you have might be Cuphea llaevis, bat flower.
>
>Salvias are great plants, both the hardy ones and the sub-tropicals.  We
>have been collecting them for a few years.  If you are into them, he will be
>offering over 20 varieties this year.  They will be listed at
>www.crownsvillenursery.com, but Dave is still updating the site for spring
>and they are not all there yet.  Hopefully in another week or two.
>
>Chick
 
Chick,

Twenty varieties, huh? I will definitely check the site.

The 'cigar plant' Betsey mentioned is probably Cuphea ignea. (Betsey,
there's a pic in the RHS Encyclopedia of Houseplants, p. 189; Graf's
Tropica on p. 620; Taylor's Houseplants probably has one, too, but I can't
find my copy at the moment.)

Dave may be correct in his id of the "Bat-faced Sage" as C. llavis. It's
listed as C. Llavea in Hortus III, and description sounds like what Betsey
described. There is also a var. of C. Llavea listed called C. miniata which
has even smaller flowers and is pictured in the RHS encyclopedia as C.
miniata. Betsey, if you can find this book, check out both those pics..You
might even go to the Garden Web Forums and post a question on the
houseplants or Tropicals forum. Nurseries are are often dependent on what
their suppliers tell them and have neither the resources nor the time to
find out Latin names. I wouldn't knock your local place too much. But this
again shows why Latin binomials are valuable and why common names can't be
trusted.

And as far as I know, too, all Lamiaceae have square stems.

Gerry
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@mallorn.com with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE HOSTA-OPEN
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index