Salvia pisidica
Salvia pisidica
Benli şalba
Perennial suffruticose herb. Stems procumbent ascending, 14-35 cm, leafy, eglandular pilose-pubescent below, retrorse, pilose to villous above with or without capitate glandular hairs. Leaves trisect or rarely pinnatisect with 2 pairs of small lateral segments, terminal segment obovate-cuneate to linear-obovate, 0.7-2.4 x 0.3-1 cm, eglandular-pubescent with sessile glands, apically crenulate; petiole 0.5-1.2 cm, long ciliate. Verticillasters 2-8-flowered, usually distant. Bracts ovate-acuminate, 6-14 x 2-6 mm; bracteoles present. Pedicels 2~6 mm. Calyx ± tubular to campanulate, 10-12 mm, to 14 mm in fruit, often purplish, eglandular or capitate glandular-villous with sessile glands. Corolla violet-blue, 18-22 mm; tube straight c. 12 mm, annulate; upper lip broad, ± straight. Stamens A. Nutlets rounded trigonous, ovoid, c. 5 x 3 mm. 2n = 16. Fl. 5-7. Quercus coccifera macchie, dry limestone slopes, fieldsides, 950-1750 m.
Endemic. Ir.-Tur. element? Related to S. wiedemannii but with serrulate leaf margins; also close to S. potentillifolia but with narrower leaf segments, violet flowers and a more procumbent habit. Rather intermediate between these two species.
