''Salvia lanceolata'' (lanceleaf sage) is a perennial shrub native to a small area of coast on the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...

in South Africa. It is typically found growing in sandy ground at sea level, and on dry hills and flat ground up to 1000 feet elevation. Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, a pioneer in evolutionary theory, first described and named the plant "''lanceolata''" in 1791. Swedish botanist

Carl Peter Thunberg Carl Peter Thunberg, also known as Karl Peter von Thunberg, Carl Pehr Thunberg, or Carl Per Thunberg (11 November 1743 – 8 August 1828), was a Swedish naturalist and an "apostle" of Carl Linnaeus. After studying under Linnaeus at Uppsala Un ...

, who was delayed in South Africa on the way to Japan, first collected it nearly twenty years earlier, along with approximately 3,000 plants that he later described. It wasn't until 1800 that Thunberg gave the plant the specific epithet "''nivea''", meaning 'snowy' in Latin, referring to the color of the foliage. Because of the rules of nomenclature, Lamarck's name had precedence because he was the first to name it. ''Salvia lanceolata'' is a much branched shrub growing 3 ft tall and 2–4 ft wide, with stems that become woody and light tan as they age. The leaves are lanceolate and evergreen, thick textured, and dove-gray with a green undertone. The .5 inch long calyx expands to 1 inch after the flowers are fertilized, turning pink. The 1.5 inch flowers are an unusual dull rosy brownish color. The plant blooms sparsely over a long period, from May through November. When crushed, the leaves give off a light fragrance reminiscent of lemon pepper, and are used in South Africa for cooking, most commonly with fish.

Notes

Plants described in 1791 lanceolata Endemic flora of the Cape Provinces {{Salvia-stub