Salvia plectranthoides Griff.

Used medicinally.

Plants annual or biennial. Stems 1 to few, erect or ascending, spreading pilose. Leaves ternate to 5-7-foliolate or 2-pinnate; petiole slightly shorter to longer than blade; leaflets ovate to lanceolate, 0.5-5 × to 5 cm, abaxially purplish, glandular, base broadly cuneate to rounded, margin crenate or crenate-dentate, apex acuminate to rounded. Inflorescences densely glandular pilose; verticillasters (2-)5-7-flowered, widely spaced, in elongated racemes or panicles; bracts lanceolate, to 2 mm. Pedicel 1-2 mm. Calyx campanulate-tubular, 5-8 mm in flower, 2-lipped to ca. 1/4 its length, yellowish glandular, veins glandular pubescent; upper lip semicircular, ca. 1.5 × 2.5 mm, margin entire; lower lip ca. 1.5 mm, to 3 mm wide, deeply 2-toothed; fruiting calyx 7-11 mm, glabrescent. Corolla red to purplish or purple-blue, rarely white, 1.1-2 cm, finely pilose; tube tubular, 2-3 × as long as calyx, slightly dilated at apex; upper lip straight, ca. 3 × 1.8 mm; lower lip dilated, somewhat longer than upper lip, middle lobe obcordate, lateral lobes subcircular. Filaments 2-3 mm; connectives suberect, 3-4 mm, upper arms longer than lower. Nutlets brownish, blackish brown on midvein, oblong, ca. 2.5 mm, adaxially ribbed, rounded. Fl. May-Aug.

Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan [Bhutan, India]

Hillsides, streamsides in valleys, sparse forests; 800-2500 m.

Salvia japonica Thunberg var. gracillima Diels; S. japonica var. kaiscianensis Pampanini; S. japonica var. parvifoliola Hemsley; S. pinnata Pavolini; S. tuberifera H. Léveillé.

Salvia plectranthoides is an annual or biennial plant that is native to Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Shaanxi, Sichuan, and Yunnan provinces in China, along with Bhutan and Sikkim in India. It is typically found growing on hillsides, along valley streams, and forests at 800 to 2,500 m (2,600 to 8,200 ft) elevation. S. plectranthoides grows on one to a few erect or ascending stems 20 to 43 cm (7.9 to 16.9 in) tall. Inflorescences are widely spaced verticillasters in elongated racemes or panicles, with a corolla that is red to purplish or purple-blue, rarely white, and 1.1 to 2 cm (0.43 to 0.79 in).