Thistle Sage
Salvia carduacea
Color: Lavender
Common name: Thistle Sage
Latin name: Salvia carduacea
Family: LAMIACEAE
Height: 4-40 inches
Description: The flowers grow in whorls on calyces that are wooly and spiny. The flowers are a vibrant lavender with bright orange anthers. The foliage is pungent, with a scent similar to citronella.
Leaf: The wooly white basal leaves resemble a thistle's, with long spines.
Range: w Desert, Tehachapi Mountain Area, San Joaquin Valley, e San Francisco Bay Area, Inner South Coast Ranges, Southwestern California
Habitat: Common. Sandy or gravelly soils
Elevation: < 1400 m.
Flowering time: Mar–May
Notes: Salvia carduacea, a dicot, is an annual herb that is native to California and is found only slightly beyond California borders. Horticulture: S. carduacea:
Given excellent drainage (modification of compacted or other water-holding soils may be necessary), absence of frequent summer water (distance from water-loving plants), and full or nearly full sun (tolerates summer afternoon sun), grows especially well in zones 7, 8, 9, 11, 18, 19, 20, and 21 and also in zones 14, 15, 16, 22, 23, and 24.
We have an online wildflower field guide that is designed to help you identify desert wildflowers by color, scientific name, region and common name. The pictures are sized to work on the iPod, iPhone, iPad and similar devices. With your iPod or phone you will easily be able to identify wildflowers while in the desert. Links for downloads are on the bottom of the Wildflower Field Guide page.
Photo tips: Most digital point-and-shoot cameras have a macro function - usually symbolized by the icon of a little flower. When you turn on that function, you allow your camera to get closer to the subject, looking into a flower for example. Or getting up close and personal with a bug. More on desert photography.
Mojave Desert Wildflowers - This book is the standard by which all other wildflower books are measured. The author, Jon Mark Stewart, has combined super photography with concise information. This book has an entire color page for each wildflower covered, with a discussion of the wildflower. 210 pages with 200 color photos. More...
What's Blooming Now - Check the Wildflower Reports
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