Salvia adiantifolia E. Peter

Plants perennial. Stems 1 to few, ascending or erect, 30-60 cm, slender, finely retrorse pilose or puberulent. Leaves mostly basal, 1-3-pinnate; petioles 3.5-6.5 cm; leaflets sessile or short petiolate, variable; terminal leaflet largest, flabellate to ovate, 0.5-4 cm, adaxially sparsely strigose, abaxially sparsely fine pilose on veins, base cuneate-attenuate to rounded, margin crenate-serrate or 1- or 2-lobulate at base, apex obtuse to short acuminate; stem leaves 1-paired, petiole ca. 1 cm. Inflorescences finely pilose; verticillasters 4-10-flowered, 0.8-2 cm apart, mostly in panicles; bracts lanceolate, margin entire, subglabrous, slightly shorter than pedicels. Pedicel 1-2 mm. Calyx campanulate, 4-5.5 mm, sparsely puberulent on veins, 2-lipped to ca. 1/4 its length; upper lip semicircular, apex mucronate; lower lip strongly 2-toothed, teeth triangular, apex spinescent. Corolla sky blue to white-purple, 7-8 mm, glandular pubescent; tube obliquely pilose annulate inside, throat white pilose, included, gradually dilated to 2 mm wide at throat; upper lip ca. 2 mm, reflexed or nearly straight; lower lip somewhat shorter than upper lip. Filaments ca. 1 mm; connectives ca. 4 mm, upper arms ca. 2 × as long as abaxial, fertile. Fl. Jun.

* Foothills, forests. Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, Jiangxi.

Salvia adiantifolia is a perennial plant that is native to China, found growing in forests and in foothills. S. adiantifolia grows on one to a few ascending or erect stems to a height of 30 to 60 cm (12 to 24 in), with mostly basal leaves. Inflorescences are 4-10 flowered verticillasters, mostly in panicles, with a sky blue to white-purple corolla that is 7 to 8 mm (0.28 to 0.31 in).