Salvia gesneriflora

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Cladus: Asterids
Cladus: Lamiids
Ordo: Lamiales

Familia: Lamiaceae
Subfamilia: Nepetoideae
Tribus: Mentheae
Subtribus: Salviinae
Genus: Salvia
Subgenus: S. subg. Calosphace
Sectio: S. sect. Holwaya
Species: Salvia gesneriiflora
Name

Salvia gesneriiflora Lindl. & Paxton, Paxton's Fl. Gard. 2: 49 (1851).
Synonyms

Homotypic
Salvia fulgens f. gesneriiflora (Lindl. & Paxton) Voss, Vilm. Blumengärtn. ed. 3, 1: 840 (1895).

Heterotypic
Salvia barbata Sessé & Moc., Fl. Mexic. 5 (1892), nom. illeg.
Salvia grandiflora Sessé & Moc., Fl. Mexic. 10 (1893), nom. illeg.

Distribution
Native distribution areas:

Northern America
Mexico
Mexico Central, Mexico Southwest.

References: Brummitt, R.K. 2001. TDWG – World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, 2nd Edition
References
Primary references

Lindley, J. & Paxton, 1851. Paxton's Fl. Gard. 2: 49
Additional references

Govaerts, R.H.A. 2003. World Checklist of Selected Plant Families Database in ACCESS: 1-216203. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. [unavailable for the public] Reference page.

Links

Govaerts, R. et al. 2022. Salvia gesneriiflora in World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published online. Accessed: 2022 May 10. Reference page.
Hassler, M. 2022. Salvia gesneriiflora. World Plants: Synonymic Checklists of the Vascular Plants of the World In: Roskovh, Y., Abucay, L., Orrell, T., Nicolson, D., Bailly, N., Kirk, P., Bourgoin, T., DeWalt, R.E., Decock, W., De Wever, A., Nieukerken, E. van, Zarucchi, J. & Penev, L., eds. 2022. Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life. Published online. Accessed: 2022 May 10. Reference page.
Tropicos.org 2022. Salvia gesneriiflora. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published online. Accessed: 10 May 2022.
International Plant Names Index. 2022. Salvia gesneriiflora. Published online. Accessed: May 10 2022.

Vernacular names
español: Mirto colorado

Salvia gesneriflora (sometimes spelled Salvia gesneriiflora) is a herbaceous perennial plant or subshrub native to mountainous provinces of the Sierra Madre Oriental in Mexico, growing at 7,500–10,000 ft (2,300–3,000 m) elevation. The long tubular flowers of this salvia resemble Gesneria flowers. It is a popular ornamental plant.[1]
Description

In its native habitat, Salvia gesneriflora is reported to grow up to 25 ft (7.6 m) high, though in cultivation it only reaches 5 ft (1.5 m) high and 3–4 ft (0.91–1.22 m) wide due to wind breakage or pruning. Hard annual pruning prevents the plant from breakage. The plant has many woody stems and very heavy with foliage that break easily in wind and rain. The heart-shaped leaves are mid-green, very aromatic, and graduated in size.

The large flowers grow up to 1.5 in (3.8 cm) long, and are a vivid orange-red, held in a 1.5 in (3.8 cm) yellow-green calyx tinged with purple glands. They grow abundantly in tightly spaced whorls on 8–12 in (20–30 cm) long inflorescences. It blooms in late winter and early spring, with hard annual pruning (down to leaf nodes near the ground) recommended after blooming. The plant will grow back to 6 ft (1.8 m) in one season.[1]
Varieties

In a 1970 collecting trip to Mexico by Huntington Botanical Gardens, two distinct varieties were collected — one with the more common green calyx, and one with a purple calyx and stem which was given the cultivar name 'Tequila'. A seedling selected from 'Tequila' around 1979 was named 'Mole Poblano', though there is some evidence that it is not distinct from 'Tequila'.[1]
References

Clebsch, Betsy; Barner, Carol D. (2003). The New Book of Salvias. Timber Press. p. 129. ISBN 978-0-88192-560-9.