Salvia repens Benth.
creeping sage
Perennial, aromatic herb with thick elongated almost woody rootstock; stem densely hairy, to c. 30 cm high. Lvs to 5-10 × 1-3 cm (including the often ill-defined petiole), oblong, pinnatisect towards apex, pinnate towards base and forming 2-3 pairs of distinct leaflets, hairy below, mostly on veins, sparsely so above, both sides covered with oil globules; terminal lobe or leaflet much larger, irregularly sinuate-dentate; apex obtuse or acute. Infl. to 10 cm long at anthesis, simple, densely hairy. Verticels rather distant, with < 8 fls, strongly glandular-hairy; pedicels very short; bracts < calyx, rounded except for narrow-acuminate apex, ciliate, with oil globules. Calyx 8-9 mm long, campanulate, with white hairs, and densely covered with oil globules, accrescent; teeth narrow-acuminate with middle tooth of upper lip < laterals. Corolla c. 12 mm long, pale mauve; lobes with scattered oil globules; upper lip emarginate and hooded; middle lobe of lower lip emarginate. Stamens exserted; fertile arm of connective almost = anthers, tip of sterile arms and apical part of style. Nutlets nearly 2 mm long, suborbicular with rounded keel.
N.: Kawau Id (N. Auckland), Coromandel Peninsula.
South Africa 1969
Mostly in old pastures.
FL Jun-Dec.
The N.Z. plant described here also resembles the South African S. runcinata L. f. Both spp., but more especially S. repens, are said to be very variable. The best character for separating the 2 is apparently the position of the fruiting calyx, which is said to be ± appressed to the axis in S. runcinata, but not so in S. repens - this is difficult to observe in dried material, but fresh material of N.Z. plants shows the more spreading calyces of S. repens.
