Salvia veneris, the Kythrean sage, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae that is endemic to Cyprus. It is found in a very small area just west of the village of Kythrea. A study in 2004 found only approximately 4,000 surviving plants.
Salvia veneris has felt-like leaves growing in a basal rosette. The flowers are bi-colored, with the upper lip blue and the lower lip white with pale yellow markings. The stems give off a pleasant fragrance when crushed. The basal rosette leaf habit is unusual in the genus Salvia, and is thought to be an adaptation to grazing by goats.
References
Sources
- de Montmollin, Bertrand; Wendy Strahm (2005). IUCN/SSC Mediterranean Islands Plant Specialist Group (ed.). The top 50 Mediterranean Island plants: wild plants at the brink of extinction, and what is needed to save them. IUCN. ISBN 978-2-8317-0832-4.
