Salvia yunnanensis C. H. Wright

Used medicinally.

Plants perennial. Tuberous roots 2 or 3, scarlet outside. Stems erect, ca. 30 cm, densely spreading white villous. Leaves mostly basal; petiole 2.5-10 cm, villous; blade simple, trifid, or pinnate; stem leaves 1- or 2-paired, short petiolate; blade of simple leaves oblong-elliptic, 2-8 × 1.5-3.5 cm, papery, abaxially purplish, densely or sparsely villous, rarely glabrescent, finely corrugate, base cordate to rounded, margin crenate, apex obtuse to rounded; terminal lobes of compound leaves largest, ovate to elliptic. Inflorescences villous, glandular puberulent; verticillasters 4-6-flowered, widely spaced, in terminal racemes or panicles 7-13 cm; bracts shorter than pedicels, pubescent. Pedicel ca. 3 mm. Calyx campanulate, 7-9 mm, abaxially tinged purple, glandular, villous on veins; upper lip broadly triangular, ca. 2.5 × 6.5 mm, apex mucronate; lower lip ca. 3 × 5 mm. Corolla blue-purple, 2.5-3 cm, pubescent; tube sparsely puberulent below middle inside, 1.3-1.5 cm, funnelform, ca. 2.5 mm wide at base, to 6 mm wide at throat; upper lip falcate, 9-11 × ca. 4.5 mm; middle lobe of lower lip with undulate margin; lateral lobes ovate, ca. 2.5 mm wide. Filaments ca. 3 mm; connectives 6-10 mm, upper arms ca. 2 × as long as upper. Nutlets black, ellipsoid. Fl. Apr-Aug.

Guizhou, Sichuan, Yunnan

* Grassy hillsides, forest margins, dry thin forests; 1800-2900 m.

Salvia bodinieri Vaniot; S. esquirolii H. Léveillé.

Salvia yunnanensis is a perennial plant that is native to Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan provinces in China, found growing on grassy hillsides, forest margins, and dry forests at 1,800 to 2,900 m (5,900 to 9,500 ft) elevation. S. yunnanensis has tuberous roots and grows on erect stems to 30 cm (12 in) tall, with simple oblong-elliptic leaves that are 2 to 8 cm (0.79 to 3.15 in) long and 1.5 to 3.5 cm (0.59 to 1.38 in) wide.

Inflorescences are widely spaced 4-6-flowered verticillasters in terminal racemes or panicles, with a 2.5 to 3.0 cm (0.98 to 1.18 in) blue-purple corolla.