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Southern river sage, Creeping sage Salvia misella
Lamiaceae
Copyright by: Jane Thompson
General Landscape Uses:
Primarily recommended for natural landscapes. Also a creeping groundcover in moist to relatively dry areas.
Ecological Restoration Notes: Primarily associated with disturbed uplands and can become weedy, but it is relatively easy to control.
Description: Small herbaceous wildflower, usually creeping along the ground; dormant in the winter in the northernmost parts of its range.
Dimensions: About 3-9 inches in height. Spreading and forming large, open or dense patches several feet across.
Growth Rate: Fast.
Range:
Scattered from Miami-Dade County and the Monroe County mainland north to Brevard, Marion, Alachua and Citrus counties, perhaps spreading north; West Indies, Mexico, Central America and South America.
Habitats: Disturbed uplands and (rarely) hammock edges, including shell mounds.
Soils: Moist to moderately dry, well-drained sandy, limestone, or organic soils, with or without humusy top layer.
Nutritional Requirements: Moderate; can grow in nutrient poor soils, but needs some organic content to thrive.
Salt Water Tolerance: Low; does not tolerate long-term flooding by salt or brackish water.
Salt Wind Tolerance: Moderate; grows near salt water, but is protected from direct salt spray by other vegetation.
Drought Tolerance: High; does not require any supplemental water once established.
Light Requirements: Light shade to full sun.
Flower Color: Blue.
Flower Characteristics: Semi-showy.
Flowering Season: Spring-fall.
Fruit: Inconspicuous nutlet.
Wildlife and Ecology: Nectar plant for butterflies. This has been reported as a possible larval host plant for the Fulvous hairstreak in Cuba (Fernández-Hernández 2007), along with other native sage (Salvia) species.
Horticultural Notes: Can be grown from cuttings, division or seed.
Map of select IRC data from peninsular Florida.
Map of suggested ZIP codes from South Florida north to southern Brevard, Osceola, Polk, and Pasco counties.
