Salvia hirtella

Description

Salvia hirtella is a herbaceous perennial shrub native to the Ecuador province of Cotopaxi, found both north and south of the equator. Its native habitat is limited to high in the Andes mountains, with most plants collected around 12,000 ft elevation. Salvia hirtella is an evergreen branching shrub that reaches 2 ft high in cultivation, rooting at the nodes when branches and inflorescences become heavy and bend to the ground. It has glossy, triangular grass-green leaves that are graduated in size, averaging about 2 in wide and long. The flowers are a rich orange-red, 1.5 in long, growing in whorls of twelve on a 1 ft inflorescence. The calyx and the inflorescence stem are covered in dark purple hairs with glands, justifying its specific epithet "hirtella" (hairy), with the calyces remaining long after blooming.