Salvia rubescens

{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}

{{Speciesbox

| image = Salvia rubescens (10195181096).jpg

| genus = Salvia

| species = rubescens

| authority = Kunth

}}

Salvia rubescens is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant native to the state of Mérida in Venezuela. The University of California Botanical Garden had been growing it since 1993 from a plant collected that year in Venezuela, only identifying it as S. rubescens in 2001.{{cite book|last1=Clebsch|first1=Betsy|last2=Barner|first2=Carol D.|title=The New Book of Salvias|publisher=Timber Press|date=2003|page=252|isbn=978-0-88192-560-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NM0iwB8GrQYC&pg=PA252}}

Salvia rubescens is an erect plant that grows {{convert|4-5|ft|m|abbr=on}} tall, and is fully covered with mid-green ovate leaves with a sawtooth edge. The leaves grow as large as {{convert|4.5|in|cm|abbr=on}} long by {{convert|3.5|in|cm|abbr=on}} wide, and are lightly covered with hairs on both surfaces. The inflorescences grow another {{convert|1-2|ft|m|abbr=on}} above the foliage, with flowering beginning in midsummer and lasting until the first frost. The flower stems and the calyx are both dark purple and covered with fine hairs. The {{convert|1|in|cm|abbr=on}} flowers are a vibrant red-orange color, growing in widely spaced whorls. Many flowers come into bloom at the same time, making for a very showy plant.

The Latin specific epithet rubescens means "becoming red".{{cite book | last=Harrison |first=Lorraine | title=RHS Latin for Gardeners | year=2012 |publisher=Mitchell Beazley | location=United Kingdom | isbn=184533731X }}