White sage

Salvia apiana, commonly known as white sage or bee sage, is an evergreen aromatic shrub in the mint family (Lamiaceae) endemic to coastal sage scrub and chaparral of southern California and northern Baja California. It grows 1 to 1.5 meters tall, forming rounded clumps of woody stems clothed in distinctive whitish, densely pubescent, lanceolate leaves 4 to 8 centimeters long, with finely crenulate margins and a strong resinous, camphoraceous fragrance when crushed. In late spring and early summer, tall flowering stalks rise above the foliage bearing whorled clusters of small, pale lavender to white tubular flowers with prominently exserted stamens, heavily visited by bees, hummingbirds, and carpenter bees. The square-stemmed inflorescence is one to two meters long and persists as a dry skeleton long after flowering. The fruits are small, smooth nutlets. White sage prefers dry, well-drained slopes below 1500 meters and is highly drought-adapted.