''Salvia corrugata'' is a perennial

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

native to

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

, Peru, and

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

, growing at 8000–9800 ft elevation. It was brought into

horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

about 2000 as a result of a collecting trip to South America in 1988. All the plants in cultivation today are from six seeds that germinated from that trip. ''Salvia corrugata'' reaches 9 ft in its native habitat, and 5–6 ft in cultivation. It has egg-shaped deeply corrugated

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...

leaves that are 4.5 in by 1.5 in, dark green on the top surface, and light veining with pale tan-colored fine hairs underneath. The brilliant purple-blue flowers are 1 in long, with a small dark purple and green calyx. The flowers grow in congested

whorls A whorl ( or ) is an individual circle, oval, volution or equivalent in a whorled pattern, which consists of a spiral or multiple concentric objects (including circles, ovals and arcs). Whorls in nature File:Photograph and axial plane floral d ...

, with 6–12 flowers on each 3–4 in

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

Notes

corrugata Flora of Colombia Flora of Ecuador Flora of Peru Taxa named by Martin Vahl {{Salvia-stub