Salvia africana-caerulea, the blue sage, is a strong-growing aromatic shrub reaching heights around 2 m. The name may have everted to the earlier S. africana. The plant resembles the also blue-flowering S. chamelaeagnea, but its calyces do not enlarge in fruiting.
The leaves are pale-green above, hairy below, soft, obovate and sometimes toothed.
The flowers appear in whorls all year round, apart from autumn. The colours vary from shades of blue, to mauve or pink, sometimes with white inside and darker spots. The calyx is funnel-shaped, softly silky and enlarges as the fruit develops. The corolla is two-lipped, with the upper one hooded and hairy, the lower one distinctively marked close to the throat. The stamens have a complex structure accommodating visiting insects.
The species distribution is in the Western Cape from the Cape Peninsula to the Gifberg and slightly into the southwest of the Northern Cape, eastwards as far as Montagu and Caledon.
The habitat is sandy and sometimes rocky fynbos slopes and flats, also coastal dunes. The species is not considered threatened in habitat early in the twenty first century.
Various indigenous population groups have found uses for this and several of the other Salvia plants, both medicinally and as a condiment for flavouring their food (Manning, 2009; Bean and Burman, 1985; iNaturalist; www.plantzafrica.com; http://redlist.sanbi.org).