Perennials: Strange Salvia from involucrata, 1 by Rich_dufresne

Rich_dufresne wrote:
Very interesting. I am quite sure that the parent involucrata `Hadspen' or probably `Boutin' is already a hybrid. Straight involucratas and puberulas have prominent involucres. What I have been calling `Hadspen' has bracts, but what passes for an involucre is rather small and elongated. I've wondered if it might be a cross with S. elegans. The lax, even drooping branches of Hadspen are like those of elegans.

The foliage of your plant looks sessile, at least. Could they also be connate, or sheathing? The stem also looks rather large and succulent, rather than narrow or woody. The internodes are pretty congested, I think. These aspects remind me of S. clinopodioides, but that can't possibly be the other parent.

Is the cross-section of the plant stem still square and straight, with no zig-zagging or extra vascular bundles? I get some axillary growth on my plants, and the cuttings maintain this feature, usually with short internodes.

See the image of the San Rafael Peach for a twisted stem.