Salvia carduacea (Thistle Sage)

All photos taken on 3/20/05 from ag fields off Hwy. 58 

(west of I-5 and east of McKittrick Hwy. 33), Kern County, CA 

LIFE LIST NOTES:

COMMON NAME: Thistle Sage

SPECIES: Salvia carduacea

FAMILY: Lamiaceae (Mint Family)

LIFE LIST DATE: 3/20/2005

LOCATION: Ag fields off Hwy. 58 (west of I-5 and east of McKittrick Hwy. 33), Kern County, CA 

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Treatment from The Jepson Manual (1993):

Annual, 1–10 dm, white-woolly

Leaves basal, subsessile, 3–10(30) cm, oblanceolate, 1-pinnately dissected; margin wavy, short-spiny

Inflorescence scapose; clusters 1.5–3 cm wide, 1–4 per flower stem; bracts 2–5 cm, lanceolate, spiny

Flower: calyx 10–17 mm, lobes spine-tipped, upper lip 3-lobed; corolla tube 15–25 mm, lavender, rarely blue or white, upper lip 2-lobed, lower lip > 2 X upper; stamens exerted

Fruit: nutlet 2.5 mm, tan to gray, flecked

Ecology: Common. Sandy or gravelly soils

Elevation: < 1400 m.  

Bioregional distribution: Tehachapi Mountain Area, San Joaquin Valley, e San Francisco Bay Area, Inner South Coast Ranges, Southwestern California, w Desert 

Distribution outside California: n Baja California

Flowering time: Mar–May

Horticultural information: DRN, SUN, DRY: 7, 8, 9, 11, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24.