Botanical name: Leucophyllum frutescens

Purple sage is a dense rounded 3-5 ft semi-evergreen shrub, in the desert conditions of Texas. It has 0.5-1 in wavy-looking ovalish alternate leaves with silvery velvety appearance. The five-lobed tubular 0.5-1 in flowers are borne singly in the leaf axils. They have spotted throats and a typical dogflower family character. The flowers appear after summer rains, sometimes covering the plants with white, pink, lavender, purple, or blue blossoms for a spectacular week long display. The flowers are followed by two-valved capsules filled with small wrinkled seeds. I have seen this plant only in the Atmanilayam Nursery Gardens, Parassala, Trivandrum district of Kerala. The photograph was taken on 2nd January, 2012.