[Sidenote: =Black Sage, Ball Sage=
_Ramòna stachyoìdes (Audibertia)_
=Lilac, white
Spring
California=]
A conspicuous shrubby plant, from three to six feet high, with stiffish
leaves, which are downy on the under side, wrinkled on the upper, and
grayish-green and downy when young, but become smoother and dark green
as they grow older. The flowers are pale lilac or white, half an inch
long, and the calyx-lobes and bracts are tipped with bristles. The
compact flower clusters, usually about five in number and rather small,
are arranged in tiers on long slender stalks, which stand up stiffly
all over the bush. This is common on southern hillsides, often forming
dense thickets for long distances, smells strong of sage and is an
important bee-plant.
There are several kinds of Hyptis, very abundant in South America and
Mexico, but only a few reaching the southwestern border of our country;
the calyx with five almost equal teeth; the corolla short, the lower
lip sac-shaped and abruptly turned back, the other four lobes nearly
equal and flat; the stamens four, included in the sac of the lower lobe.
[Sidenote: =Hyptis=
_Hýptis Émoryi_
=Purple
Spring
Arizona=]
A shrub, from three to five feet high, with very pale, roundish, woody
stems and branches and small, very pale gray leaves, thickish and soft,
covered with white woolly down. The little fragrant, bluish-purple
flowers, with white woolly calyxes, are crowded in close clusters about
an inch long. Only a few flowers are out at one time and they are too
small to be pretty, but the effect of the shrub as a whole is rather
conspicuous and attractive, on account of its delicate coloring, the
lilac of the flower-clusters harmonizing with the gray foliage, which
gives out a very strong smell of sage when crushed. This grows among
the rocks above the Desert Laboratory at Tucson and in similar places,
blooming in early spring and much visited by bees.
[Illustration: Black Sage--Ramona stachyoides.