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TURKISH SAGE

Phlomis russeliana

Mint / Dead-Nettle Family [Lamiaceae]  

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category
category8Shrubs
 
category
category8Deciduous
 
category
category8Broadleaf
 
status
statusZneophyte
 
flower
flower8yellow
 
inner
inner8green
 
morph
morph8zygo
 
petals
petalsZMany
(2)
type
typeZtieredwhorls
 
stem
stem8square
 

27th June 2009, Blackleach Country Pk, Walkden, Greater Manchester. Photo: © RWD
A shrub of up to 6 feet tall with large bright yellow flowers.


27th June 2009, Blackleach Country Pk, Walkden, Greater Manchester. Photo: © RWD
A large flower-head atop each long stem. Leaves pointed and a brighter green than those of Jerusalem Sage.


27th June 2009, Blackleach Country Pk, Walkden, Greater Manchester. Photo: © RWD
The ring of two petalled flowers. In the centre the beginnings of the candelabra form of flower head is forming, where up to three sets of flowers cascade in chandelier-style up the stem. The stem is square, and unlike Jerusalem sage deeply grooved on each face as if four round stems were bunch-welded together.


27th June 2009, Blackleach Country Pk, Walkden, Greater Manchester. Photo: © RWD
typical of flowers of the Dead-Nettle family, the flowers emerge from sepal tubes. The sepal tubes are hairy and pentagonal-star shaped; the central florets fall out first leaving a ring of florets around the periphery like a gas-ring.


27th June 2009, Blackleach Country Pk, Walkden, Greater Manchester. Photo: © RWD
Each flower consists of a lower petal and an upper elongated enveloping hood, aligned radially, giving a unique appearance to the Phlomis genus. The deep yellow petals can lose their colour and turn white at the edges.


27th June 2009, Blackleach Country Pk, Walkden, Greater Manchester. Photo: © RWD
The radially-arranged florets surrounding empty pentagonal sepal tubes.


27th June 2009, Blackleach Country Pk, Walkden, Greater Manchester. Photo: © RWD
A single floret from above, showing the ridge of the hood.


27th June 2009, Blackleach Country Pk, Walkden, Greater Manchester. Photo: © RWD
The leaves are a lighter brighter green than those of Jerusalem Sage and unlike that plant have pointed rather than broadly rounded ends.


27th June 2009, Blackleach Country Pk, Walkden, Greater Manchester. Photo: © RWD
Just like Jerusalem Sage the leaves are white-rimmed due to downy whitish hairs, which cover the rear of the leaves and the stems.


Easily confused with : Jerusalem Sage but Jerusalem Sage has greyer leaves that are rounded rather than pointed at the tip. Also has a greater propensity to flower in cascaded chandelier form, where one set of flowers is immediately above another set and topped by yet another set, separated by a length of bare stem.

Not to be confused with: Sage (Salvia officinalis) which although it belongs to the same Dead-Nettle Family, is actually in a different Genera: Salvia as opposed to the Phlomis of Turkish Sage and Jerusalem Sage.

Uniquely identifiable characteristics

Distinguishing Feature (for the Genus Phlomis): The ring of radially-arranged yellow flowers looking like a gas ring.

Turkish Sage has the propensity to grow another whorl of flowers atop an already existing top-most whorl, rather like a candelabra. Of course, many (but not all) Dead-Nettle Family plants have chandelier-like whorls of flowers up a continuous and un-broken stem, but the chandeliers in Wild Basil are different: they are not on a part of the same stem, but on a new stem grown from somewhere near the middle of the existing topmost whorl. Jerusalem Sage and Wild Basil also exhibit this behaviour. The separate tiered stems are often thinner than those below them; and the corresponding whorls not as large: much more like a (albeit upside-down) chandelier.

Inhabits sheltered and shaded woods and scrub; dislikes full sun. More easily found in a park or garden. Very fast growing, reaches up to 5 feet tall.


  Phlomis russeliana  ⇐ Global Aspect ⇒ Lamiaceae  

Distribution
 family8Mint / Dead-Nettle family8Lamiaceae
 BSBI maps
genus8Phlomis
Phlomis
(Sages)

TURKISH SAGE

Phlomis russeliana

Mint / Dead-Nettle Family [Lamiaceae]  

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