"Salvia interrupta is a perennial plant belonging to the family Lamiaceae. It is native throughout the range of the Atlas Mountains in Morocco, growing between 1,300 to 1,500 feet elevation in shaded arboreal forests and on limestone slopes.

Salvia interrupta has apple-green three-lobed leaves of various sizes, with short white hairs on the underside, with the plant appearing to grow in a basal rosette. The flower stalks grow to 2 feet, with verticils of 5–10 flowers growing on small peduncles that are widely spaced along the stalk. The spacing explains the plant's epithet, "interrupta", and contributes to the elegance of the flower stalk. The stalks are square when young, becoming round when mature, with two distinct dark purple-brown lines running up the length of the stalk. The plant is sometimes confused with Salvia candelabrum, which has undivided leaves[citation needed] as compared to S. interrupta, due to the similarity of the flower stalks. Salvia ringens also looks similar to S. interrupta— it has longer petioles and repeat blooms more frequently.

In cultivation, flowering usually begins in late spring or early summer and repeats heavily in October. The flower stalks last well as cut flowers. In his 1933 classic The English Flower Garden, William Robinson described Salvia interrupta as one of the most beautiful border plants. The dramatic flowering stalks tend to get lost in the midst of other plants, so it is better for the front of borders, where its tidy foliage also out when not in bloom. It also works well as a dramatic single specimen in a large pot."

Taken from wikipedia's page at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S...

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