At the John "Chuck" Erreca Southbound Rest Area on Interstate 5 in California, I noticed several Texas sage shrubs, and their showy purple blooms caught my eye.
Texas Sage (Leucophyllum frutescens) is a tough, drought-tolerant evergreen shrub native to Texas and northern Mexico. It is placed in the figwort family (Scrophulariaceae), although some references use a different classification. The genus name comes from the Greek leukos ("white") and phyllon ("leaf"), for its whitish foliage, and the species name is Latin for "shrubby," a reference to its form. Despite the common name, it is not a true sage and is unrelated to the genus Salvia. It is also known as Texas ranger, cenizo, silverleaf, and barometer bush.
The "barometer bush" nickname comes from a popular belief that the plant predicts rain. It often bursts into bloom after a rise in humidity or after rainfall, though the exact trigger is not fully understood.
The plant is prized for its silvery foliage and showy blooms. Its soft, oval leaves are covered in dense, tiny, silvery-white hairs, giving the shrub a frosted, ash-gray look. Small, bell-shaped flowers in purple, lavender, pink, or white appear in flushes from late spring through fall, often after summer rains, and can cover the whole shrub. Texas sage typically grows 5 to 8 feet tall and wide and is used for borders, hedges, and mass plantings in warm, dry regions.
It grows best in full sun and well-drained soil, needs very little water once established, and is hardy in roughly USDA zones 8 to 10. Overwatering is the most common cause of failure. The flowers attract bees and other pollinators, and the plant is reported to serve as a larval host for the Theona checkerspot butterfly.
在加州 5 號州際公路的埃雷卡（John "Chuck" Erreca）南向休息區，我看到幾株德州鼠尾草灌木，它們醒目的紫色花朵吸引了我。
德州鼠尾草（學名：Leucophyllum frutescens）中文俗名是紅花玉芙蓉，也常被稱為德州鼠尾草、銀葉或紫花鼠尾草。是一種原產於德州和墨西哥北部的堅韌、耐旱常綠灌木。它被歸類於玄參科（Scrophulariaceae），但是也有一些資料採用不同的分類方式。其屬名源自希臘語 leukos（意為「白色」）和 phyllon（意為「葉子」），得名於其帶有白色的葉片；種加詞則是拉丁語，意為「灌木狀的」，指代其植株形態。雖然俗名中有「鼠尾草」（Sage）一詞，但它並非真正的鼠尾草，也與鼠尾草屬（Salvia）植物沒有親緣關係。它還有「德州遊騎兵」（Texas ranger）、「灰燼」（cenizo）、「銀葉樹」（silverleaf）和「氣壓計灌木」（barometer bush）等別名。
「氣壓計灌木」這個別名源自於一種普遍的說法，即該植物能預示降雨。它往往在濕度升高或降雨後競相綻放，但其確切的觸發機制尚不完全明確。
這種植物因其銀色的葉子和艷麗的花朵而備受推崇。它柔軟的橢圓形葉子上覆蓋著濃密的細小銀白色絨毛，使灌木呈現出毛面、灰白色的外觀。從春末到秋季開出紫色、淡紫色、粉紅色或白色的鐘形小花。更常在夏季雨後綻放，覆蓋了整個灌木叢。德州鼠尾草通常長 5 至 8 英尺高且寬，常拿來用於溫暖、乾燥地區的狹長花壇、樹籬和大規模種植。
它在充足陽光和排水良好的土壤中生長最佳，一旦植株成活，需水量極少；其耐寒性大致相當於 USDA 耐寒分區 8-10 區。澆水過多是種植失敗的最常見原因。其花朵能吸引蜜蜂及其他授粉昆蟲，據稱該植物仍是草怡蛺蝶（Theona checkerspot butterfly）幼蟲的寄主植物。
Posts: Plants by Name 植物-英文名錄
Posts: Plants by Order/Family 植物-目/科錄