Salvia columbariae (Chia)

Photographs

My photos:

This photo of the Chia flower was taken along De Luz Road in March. The color is a breath-taking deep, elegant purple.

The first two photos below, also from De Luz Road, show a single plant in its entirety, and a cluster of plants. The left-most photo, from Joshua Tree National Park, shows a plant that is stouter than the ones on De Luz Road.

More photos:

Chia

Plant Information

Lamiaceae

In the garden:

A little annual sage that doesn't look like a sage. Not much scent but nice one inch flowers on a 1-2 foot plant. Gray leaves are mostly basal and are deeply lobed. Flowers are arranged in from 1 to 3 compact whorls, purplish, from which the bright blue corolla extends. This plant blooms from March to June.

In the wild:

Common in dry, open areas, below 5000 feet. It grows commonly on disturbed soil, which is where I found it on De Luz Road.

Ethnobotany:

Chia seeds were a staple food for the natives of California, who obtained them by shaking the dried flower heads. The seeds were used as a grain in various ways. They were also used to make a beverage.

Medicinally, the seeds were used to remove foreign particles from the eye, or ground for use as a poultice for infections.

Chia seeds are sold as part of a novelty item called "Chia Pet" in which seeds are placed on a clay form in the shape of an animal, and when watered, the growing sprouts resemble the animal's fur. Chia Pets in the shape of human heads with the sprouts growing out as hair have also been marketed.

Field Trips
Anza Borrego Caspers Holy Jim Canyon Idyllwild
Joshua Tree Mt Palomar Rancho Santa Ana Torrey Pines
De Luz Road

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