The Salvia mellifera (Labiatae) assemblage consists of S. mellifera Greene, Salvia munzii Epl., Salvia brandegei Epl., and Salvia columbariae Benth. These four species comprise a clearly defined natural group and are easily separated from the other California Salvia species by distinctive morphological characters. Three of these species formed subsection Parishiella when Epling elevated two varieties within S. mellifera (i.e., var. brandegei and var. munzii) to specific level (1). The inclusion of the fourth member, S. columbariae, to the natural grouping was first suggested by Neisess (2). The most definitive characteristic of this group is the flower type, which is uniquely suited to optimize pollination by smalland medium-size bees (3). S. mellifera is a dominant species in much of the California coastal scrub sage and bordering chaparral zones from Contra Costa County south to the border of Baja California. In northernmost Baja California as the coastal sage scrub becomes increasingly xeric, S. mellifera is replaced by S. munzii, which ranges as far south

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