Salvia caymanensis - Cayman Sage
by P. Ann van B. Stafford
Cayman Nature Tour Guide and Native Plants Consultant
Salvia caymanensis Millsp.& Uline ex Millsp., Field Mus. Bot. 2:94 (1900)
Grand Cayman endemic, Critically Endangered
LAMIACEAE / LABITAE
FLORA of the CAYMAN ISLANDS 2nd. Edition by George R. Proctor, Kew Publishing 2012
Page 590, Fig. 219, Plate 57.
Threatened Plants of the Cayman Islands THE RED LIST by Frederic J. Burton,
Kew Publishing 2008. Page 46.
A small, stiffly erect, slender shrub (woody), a short-lived perennial, to 1m tall with OPPOSITE aromatic grey-green leaves, covered on the underside with tiny white hairs. The deep blue flowers drop off as the day progresses. The 2-lipped calyx, the lips subequal, is clothed with spreading gland-tipped hairs. The glands are navy blue. The mature caylces are more than 5mm long, open and gaping in fruit.
Habitat: sandy thickets and clearings
History of Salvia caymanensis:
1899 Charles F.
Millspaugh, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago.
1938 Wilfred Kings, Oxford University Biological Expedition to the Cayman Islands.
1956 George R. Proctor, collected in Savannah / Newlands
1967 June 8 Martin Brunt #2081 1938 Wilfred Kings, Oxford University Biological Expedition to the Cayman Islands.
1956 George R. Proctor, collected in Savannah / Newlands
Sandy site by roadside, George Town, West Bay Road.
Salvia caymanensis Virtual Herbarium of the National Trust for the Cayman Islands
38 years go by without Salvia caymanensis being found
2005 April 23 Carla Reid found Salvia caymanensis growing in an abandoned George Town sand garden.2005 Dec. 10 Daphne Rudolph found Salvia caymanensis in sandy, overgrown area at Cottage, south coast.
2007 May 25 Carla Reid found several plants flowering on the Queens Highway verge, north coast.
#348 South Church St, George Town, just before the site was bulldozed.
Carla Reid found Cayman Sage - Salvia caymanensi
7 months after Hurricane Ivan hit Grand Cayman.
Photo: Ann Stafford, April 23, 2005
Carla Reid found Cayman Sage - Salvia caymanensi
7 months after Hurricane Ivan hit Grand Cayman.
Photo: Ann Stafford, April 23, 2005
Cayman Sage - Salvia caymanensi
7 months after Hurricane Ivan hit Grand Cayman, in Sept. 2004. #348 South Church St, Grand Cayman, Photo: P. Ann van B. Stafford, April 23, 2005.
She grew some plants in her garden at East End.
She grew some plants in her garden at East End.
Carla Reid at Cottage, East End, south coast of Grand Cayman.
Photo: Ann Stafford, June 3, 2007.
Friday, May 25, 2007 Carla Reid found
several plants flowering on the Queens Highway 19º 21.113N, 81º
08.684W, east of the Olde house #323, west of & near the
agricultural road where Neoregnellia
cubensis was found.
On the roadside verge, the plants growing back after being mown,
& in the bush, plant 66cm high,
(with Zanthoxylum flavum, Tournefortia
astrotricha, Lantana involucrata, Savia erythroxyloides, Erythoxylum areolatum,
Cordia sebestena var caymanensis, Phyllanthus angustifolius, Morinda citrifolia, Comocladia
dentata & others).
Salvia caymanensi
on Friday, May 25, 2007.
Photo: Carla Reid, May 26, 2007.
Photo: Carla Reid, May 26, 2007.
Queens Highway, north coast of Grand Cayman, roadside verge where
Carla Reid found Salvia caymanensi
Photo: Ann Stafford. May 27, 2007
Carla Reid found Salvia caymanensi
Photo: Ann Stafford. May 27, 2007
Carla Reid points out Salvia caymanensi
which she found on May 25, 2007, growing the Queens Highway roadside verge, Grand Cayman.
which she found on May 25, 2007, growing the Queens Highway roadside verge, Grand Cayman.
Maiden Plum - Comocladia dentata, Do Not Touch, Family: ANACARDIACEAE, has a highly irritant sap, to which most people are allergic, is growing on the right.
Photo: Ann Stafford. May 27, 2007
Photo: Ann Stafford. May 27, 2007
Photo: P. Ann van B. Stafford, May 28, 2007
Cayman Islands FLORA photos 
Image: P. Ann van B. Stafford, July 30, 2007
Cayman HERBARIUM - scanned images of live plants
Penny Clifford's painting of Salvia caymanensis
Cayman HERBARIUM - scanned images of live plants
May 7, 2007
CI$1000 REWARD is offered for finding the little shrub with deep blue flowers.
The last time the plant was officially recorded was 40 years ago by Martin Brunt, June 8, 1967.
Dr. Proctor confirms identification of Salvia caymanensis
Mon.
June 11, 2007 Specimens were sent by
Fedex to Dr. George R. Proctor in Jamaica
by the National Trust for the Cayman Islands.
Thurs.
June 14, 2007 Dr. Proctor confirmed the identification
of Salvia caymanensis (Queens Highway
roadside verge plants, May 25, 2007) by phone.
#348 South Church St plants of April 23, 2005,
rescued and grown by Carla Reid, East End, were also identified as Salvia caymanensis.
For nearly 40 years it was thought that the Cayman sage was extinct, but
after the distribution of 'Wanted' posters in 2007 it was rediscovered.
CaymanianCompass
by Carol Winker, May 7, 2007
People who study Cayman’s environment are afraid that a delicate little flowering plant may be extinct.
But anyone who proves them wrong will win $1,000 and a place in Cayman natural history.
The plant is the salvia caymanensis, a graceful part of flora that
can reach to a height of up to three feet, with tiny blue flowers and a
silvery cast to the underside of its leaves.
The reward is offered through the Darwin Initiative, a programme to
conserve endangered plants and animals. Partners include the Department
of Environment, the National Trust and the Garden Club.
Right: 348 South Church St sand garden,
both found by Carla Reid on May 25, 2007 and April 23, 2005 respectively.
The leaves are slightly different.
Image: P. Ann van B. Stafford, May 27, 2007
CaymanianCompass
by Carol Winker, July 26, 2007
Mrs. Carla Reid was forced to bring her vehicle to a stop one day last month so that trenching machinery could be moved on Queen’s Highway.
As she waited, she looked out of her window and saw something she had feared did not exist any more – a uniquely Caymanian plant identified years ago as salvia caymanensis and known less formally as Cayman sage.
Although Mrs. Reid travels that section of road frequently, it’s a 50
miles per hour stretch, so chances of seeing the plant’s little blue
flowers were minimal.
The flowers apparently don’t stay in bloom very long: when photographers went to the area last week, the blossoms were gone. Without them, the plant is not as easy to identify.
Mrs. Reid knew what she was looking for. The Darwin Initiative’s recent offer of a $1,000 reward reminded her of her earlier interest.
Mrs. Carla Reid was forced to bring her vehicle to a stop one day last month so that trenching machinery could be moved on Queen’s Highway.
As she waited, she looked out of her window and saw something she had feared did not exist any more – a uniquely Caymanian plant identified years ago as salvia caymanensis and known less formally as Cayman sage.
For
the presentation of the $1,000 reward, Mrs. Carla Reid and Mr. Mat
Cottam chose an area in which she found the Cayman sage. Unfortunately,
the flowers were no longer in bloom. Fortunately, Mr. Cottam had taken
close–ups the previous week. Photo: Carol Winker
|
The flowers apparently don’t stay in bloom very long: when photographers went to the area last week, the blossoms were gone. Without them, the plant is not as easy to identify.
Mrs. Reid knew what she was looking for. The Darwin Initiative’s recent offer of a $1,000 reward reminded her of her earlier interest.
Grand Cayman small, slender endemic shrub, Critically Endangered
The flowers drop off around midday.
Image: P. Ann van B. Stafford, June 5, 2007
Cayman Islands ENDEMICS - plants and creatures
The flowers drop off around midday.
Image: P. Ann van B. Stafford, June 5, 2007
Cayman Islands ENDEMICS - plants and creatures
Salvia caymanensi
Image: P. Ann van B. Stafford, Grand Cayman, Oct.31, 2010.
Image: P. Ann van B. Stafford, Oct.31, 2010
Featured Creature Icerya purchasi - Cottony Cushion Scale insect pest
BugGuide Icerya purchasi - Cottony Cushion Scale
Image: P. Ann van B. Stafford, Grand Cayman, Oct.31, 2010.
Image: P. Ann van B. Stafford, Oct.31, 2010
Featured Creature Icerya purchasi - Cottony Cushion Scale insect pest
BugGuide Icerya purchasi - Cottony Cushion Scale
The 2-lipped calyx is clothed with spreading gland-tipped hairs. The glands are navy blue.
Photo: Courtney Platt, July 6, 2009
Alasdair Currie and Andrea Jones photograph
Photo: Ann Stafford, March 2, 2013.
Salvia caymanensis in the Colour Garden at the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park, Grand Cayman.
DESCRIPTION:
Cayman Sage Salvia caymanensis Millsp. & Uline
Kingdom: Plantae,
Division: Magnoliophyta,
Class: Magnoliopsida,
Order: Lamiales, Family: Labiatae,
Genus: Salvia,
Species: caymanensis
Salvia is a widely distributed genus of over 700 species (Proctor 2009). Cayman Sage Salvia caymanensis is endemic to Grand Cayman. The last specimen was collected by Martin Brunt in 1967 (No.2061), and stored in the herbarium of the National Trust for the Cayman Islands (sheet 712). The plant, however, was not seen since, despite repeated surveys. Salvia caymanensis was, until 2007, considered potentially extinct.
Distribution: Species endemic to Grand Cayman.
Conservation status: Critically endangered CR B1ab(i,ii,iii,iv,v)c(ii,iv)+2ab(i,ii,iii,iv,v)c(ii,iv).
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