Salvia japonica Thunb.

Plants annual. Stems erect, 40-60 cm, sparsely villous along angles or subglabrous. Leaves 1-3-pinnate; petiole 7-9 cm; leaf blade 6-13 × 5-9 cm; upper stem leaves 1-pinnate, short petiolate; terminal leaflet lanceolate or rhombic, to 10 × 3.5 cm, pilose or glabrous, base long cuneate, margin obtusely serrate; lateral leaflets subsessile, ovate-lanceolate, 1.5-5 × 0.8-2.5 cm, base obliquely rounded. Verticillasters 2-6-flowered, in terminal racemes or panicles; rachis densely glandular pilose or pilose; bracts and bracteoles lanceolate, 2-5 × 0.5-1 mm, glabrous, margin entire. Pedicel 1-1.5 mm, pubescent. Calyx tubular, 4-6 mm, sparsely glandular pilose, white hirsute annulate on throat inside, 2-lipped to ca. 1/3 its length; upper lip triangular or nearly semicircular, ca. 2 × 3 mm; teeth narrowly triangular, apex long acuminate. Corolla reddish, purplish, bluish, to white, ca. 1.2 cm, densely villous; tube obliquely pilose annulate inside, ca. 9 mm, exserted, ca. 2 mm wide at base, to 3.5 mm wide at throat; upper lip elliptic to ovate, ca. 2.5 × 2 mm; lower lip ca. 3 × 4 mm, margin crenulate. Stamens exserted; filaments ca. 1 mm; connectives ca. 6 mm, straight or slightly curved. Nutlets brown, ellipsoid, ca. 1.7 × 0.5 mm. Fl. Jun-Sep.

Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hubei, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Zhejiang

* Hillsides, grasslands, wet areas, riverbanks, thickets, forests; 200-1200 m.

Salvia japonica, known as East Asian sage, is an annual plant that is native to several provinces in China and Taiwan, growing at 200 to 1,200 m (660 to 3,940 ft) elevation. S. japonica grows on erect stems to 40 to 60 cm (16 to 24 in) tall. Inflorescences are 2-6 flowered verticillasters in terminal racemes or panicles, with a corolla that varies in color from reddish, purplish, bluish, to white, and is approximately 1.2 cm (0.47 in).

There are two named varieties, with slight variations in leaf and flower shape: S. japonica var. japonica and S. japonica var. multifoliolata