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Plant Profile

Big Red Sage (Salvia penstemonoides)

Salvia penstemonoides in flower.

Photo Credit: Nancye Saunders Drukker

Global Rank: G1 - Critically Imperiled
Legal Status: N/A
Family: Lamiaceae
State: TX
Nature Serve ID: 134863
Lifeform: Forb/herb
Date Inducted in National Collection: 02/25/1988

Description:

Big red sage is a beautiful perennial in the mint family. Sometimes growing to a height of five feet, its burgundy-red tubular flowers are a favorite with the hummingbirds (Enquist 1987). It is found in Central Texas growing along stream banks amongst the limestone outcroppings. Herbicides, erosion, and the lowering of the water table in the Texas Hill Country are its main threats. The San Antonio Botanical Garden maintains a collection in their greenhouses and on the grounds (Merritt, 2001. pers. comm.).

Where is Big Red Sage (Salvia penstemonoides) located in the wild?

Habitat:

Found along stream beds in open mesic woods, the big red sage grows in limestone-derived soils of clay or silt (NatureServe 2016).

Distribution:

This taxon is endemic to the Edwards Plateau in Central Texas (Correll and Johnston 1996).

States & Provinces:

Big Red Sage can be found in Texas

Which CPC Partners conserve Big Red Sage (Salvia penstemonoides)?

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Conservation Actions

Jonathan Flickinger

10/13/2023

There are currently over 400 documented wild-origin seeds from two populations in the seed bank of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. These seeds were collected in Kendall County between 2004 and 2012. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department awarded the Wildflower Center a grant to bank additional seed collections and to propagate the species using controlled crosses to learn more about its reproductive biology. An additional collection of 36 seeds was made in September 2023. Big red sage has been in cultivation at the Wildflower Center for many years.

09/27/2020

Schaal et al. (1992) found that this species has low levels of genetic variation, a pattern that appears to be consistent with a species that has always had a fairly low level of genetic diversity.

09/27/2020

Poole and Janssen (1996) reported on a four-year survey of demographic trends for one location of this species on a highway rights-of-way.

09/27/2020

The San Antonio Botanical Garden have found big red sage germinates easily from seed.

09/27/2020

Through the years. SABG staff has collected seed for germination studies and research purposes.

09/27/2020

The San Antonio Botanical Garden maintains a living collection in their cold frame, test plots, and on the grounds.

Nature Serve Biotics

05/02/2017

Endemic to the Edwards Plateau of Texas. Thought to be extinct until one large and several very small populations were found in the late 1980s. An early and long summer flood in 1997 killed the largest part of the largest population, leaving only a few hundred total individuals left in the wild. There are about a dozen historical occurrences, some of which are of uncertain location and/or occur on private land and haven't been searched for in recent years; if these were rediscovered, the conservation status of this species might improve (Poole, J., pers. comm., Oct. 31, 1997).

Cindy Barrett

01/01/2010

Herbicides Lowering of water table Grazing Collecting Erosion

Cindy Barrett

01/01/2010

Recently rediscovered 300 individuals in 5 sites; 3 protected sites in Lost Maples State Park; 10 historical sites

Cindy Barrett

01/01/2010

The San Antonio Botanical Garden have found big red sage germinates easily from seed. Poole and Janssen (1996) reported on a four-year survey of demographic trends for one location of this species on a highway rights-of-way. Schaal et al. (1992) found that this species has low levels of genetic variation, a pattern that appears to be consistent with a species that has always had a fairly low level of genetic diversity.

Cindy Barrett

01/01/2010

The San Antonio Botanical Garden maintains a living collection in their cold frame, test plots, and on the grounds. Through the years. SABG staff has collected seed for germination studies and research purposes.

Cindy Barrett

01/01/2010

Because the number of plants in each population is so low, possible augmentation of these populations may be needed.

Cindy Barrett

01/01/2010

Collection of seeds from the various populations in the wild need to be collected and sent to the National Seed Storage Lab.