Rosmarinus Explained

Rosmarinus (^[1]) is a small taxonomic clade of woody, perennial herbs with fragrant evergreen needle-like leaves in the family Lamiaceae, native to the Mediterranean Basin.

In 2017 the species in the genus Rosmarinus were moved into the large genus Salvia based on taxonomic evidence.^[2] Thus Rosmarinus is no longer a genus, but still a monophyletic clade of species within Salvia.

Description

Salvia rosmarinus (rosemary), widespread in the Mediterranean region, and Salvia jordanii (formerly Rosmarinus eriocalyx), native to northwest Africa and southern Spain have long been widely recognized. Salvia granatensis (formerly Rosmarinus tomentosus) was first recognized as a separate species in 1941. Rosmarinus palaui was first described as a species in 2002, although recognition of this species remains controversial. Recent research has indicated that while S. granatensis forms a monophyletic group, this group is nested within a paraphyletic S. jordanii.^[3]

Salvia jordanii differs from the well-known herb rosemary in its smaller leaves, only 5mm15mm long and less than 2mm broad, and densely hairy flower stems. It also tends to be lower-growing, often under 25cm (10inches) tall and prostrate, and never exceeding 1m (03feet) tall (S. rosmarinus can reach 1.5m (04.9feet), exceptionally 2m (07feet), tall).

Rosemary can be propagated from seed or cuttings in summer,^[4] and can be spread by carelessly discarding garden waste.^[5]

Species

Species and nothospecies accepted by the Kew World Checklist^[6]

Image	Scientific name	Common name	Distribution
	Salvia jordanii Jord. & Fourr.	Algerian rosemary	Spain, Morocco, Algeria, Libya
	Salvia rosmarinus L.	Rosemary	Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Cyprus, Turkey; naturalized in Bulgaria, Crimea, Madeira islands, Canary Islands, Cape Verde, Bermuda, Texas, central Mexico
	Rosmarinus palaui (O.Bolòs & Molin.) Rivas Mart. & M.J.Costa
	Salvia granatensis Hub.-Mor. & Maire	cliff rosemary	southern Spain

Natural hybrids

Image	Scientific name	Parents	Distribution
	Salvia × lavandulacea de Noé	(S. jordanii × S. rosmarinus)	Andalusian rosemary	Spain, Morocco, Algeria
	Salvia × mendizabalii Sagredo ex Rosua	(S. rosmarinus × S. granatensis)	Granadan rosemary	Granada region of Spain

Notes and References

1. Book: Sunset Western Garden Book. 1995. 606–607.
2. Drew. Bryan T.. Taxon. 66. 133–145. Salvia united: The greatest good for the greatest number. 2017. 10.12705/661.7. 90993808.
3. Rossello, J.A. . 2006 . Intragenomic diversity and phylogenetic systematics of wild rosemaries (Rosmarinus officinalis L. s.l., Lamiaceae) assessed by nuclear ribosomal DNA sequences (ITS). Plant Systematics and Evolution . 262 . 1–2 . 1–12 . 10.1007/s00606-006-0454-5 . 25645455 . etal.
4. Book: Botanica : the illustrated A-Z of over 10,000 garden plants for New Zealand gardens and how to cultivate them. 1997. David Bateman. Bryant, Geoff, Burnie, Geoffrey.. 1-86953-376-3. North Shore City, N.Z.. 801. 154295480.
5. Web site: Salvia rosmarinus New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. nzpcn.org.nz. 2019-11-30.
6. http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=179854 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families