Family |
Lamiaceae
Salvia multicaulis
Vahl
Salvia multicaulis Vahl
(First published in Enum. Pl. Obs. 1: 225; 1804. Treated in Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 3, p. 160; 1983)
• Life-form & habit: Perennial with woody rootstock; stems 20–50 cm, spreading or ascending, covered with greyish pubescence.
• Leaves: Lower leaves petiolate, broadly ovate to oblong, crenate-dentate; upper leaves smaller, sessile, lanceolate.
• Inflorescence & flowers: Verticillasters lax, 4–8-flowered, forming elongated inflorescences. Calyx tubular, bilabiate, pubescent; upper lip with 3 small teeth, lower with 2 longer ones. Corolla blue to violet, 15–20 mm; upper lip erect, lower lip spreading, 3-lobed.
• Fruit: Nutlets ovoid, smooth, brownish.
• Phenology: Flowers April–June.
• Habitat & elevation: Rocky slopes, montane scrub, steppe margins.
• Lebanese distribution: Frequent — Anti-Lebanon (Yammouneh basin, Ras Baalbeck), Hermon, Beqa‘a margins.
• Syrian distribution: Damascus region, Palmyra, Hauran, Jabal Druze, Aleppo steppe.
• Native range: Iran, Iraq, Lebanon–Syria, Palestine, Sinai, Turkey.
⚠️ Taxonomic note: Related to Salvia syriaca and S. spinosa; distinguished by its smaller stature, blue-violet corollas, and dentate calyces with two prominent lower teeth. (WCVP)