What's in the Name?

I got some
seeds and on the envelope it said:

Salvia sp.

Salvia officinalis = Sage with herbal uses growing in my potager

What does sp. stand
for? I found this very useful article by Susan Mahr about Botanical and Latin
names. I learned that:

Unspecified or unknown specie in the genus of
for instance Salvia would be written as Salvia sp. To signify more than one
species in the genus, it is written Salvia spp. Another thing.. once the genus
has been used in a paragraph, or is understood, it can be shortened, such as S.
splendens. and S. officinalis, good to know

What's In A Name?

Understanding
Botanical or Latin Names

By Susan Mahr, University of Wisconsin – Madison

“All living organisms are classified into
various groups with different degrees of relatedness. In the plant kingdom, the
various levels of classification include class, order, family, genus and
species. The genus and species names together comprise the scientific name that
every plant (and animal, too) is given when first described by a scientist.
These species names are recognized by botanists, horticulturists and gardeners
no matter where you go in the world.”

What the Latin
name means

acaulis
stemless

alba white

angustifolia
narrow-leaved

annua annual

argentea silvery
ag silver

arvensis of the
field

aurantiaca orange

... find the rest here

I have planted 14 Salvias (Sage) now
for 2010 some of them are perennial and most of them are blueish purple in the
colour they are:

Salvia amplexicaulis, Salvia dolichantha, S. forskaohlei, S. glutinosa, S. hians, S.
nemorosa, S. officinalis ' Berggarten', S. przewalskii, S. staminea, S.
transsylvania, S. certicillata, S. virgata, S. columbariae (Chia) and last the
Salvia sp. the unknown one.
I always bought plants of Salvia before and this
is the first time I sow them from seed, very exiting.
Thank you Nancy Soliloquy for choosing to
put Tyra's Garden on you sidebar this week.

Photo: YCLS