Salvia japonica is an annual plant that is native to several provinces in China and Taiwan, growing at 200 to 1200 m (656.2 to 3,937 ft) elevation. S. japonica grows on erect stems to 40 to 60 cm (15.7 to 23.6 in) tall. Inflorescences are 2-6 flowered verticillasters in terminal raceme

Raceme

A raceme is a type of inflorescence that is unbranched and indeterminate and bears pedicellate flowers — flowers having short floral stalks called pedicels — along the axis. In botany, axis means a shoot, in this case one bearing the flowers. In a raceme, the oldest flowers are borne...

s or panicle

Panicle

A panicle is a compound raceme, a loose, much-branched indeterminate inflorescence with pedicellate flowers attached along the secondary branches; in other words, a branched cluster of flowers in which the branches are racemes....

s, with a corolla that varies in color from reddish, purplish, bluish, to white, and is approximately 1.2 cm (0.47244094488189 in).

There are two named varieties, with slight variations in leaf and flower shape: S. japonica var. japonica and S.  japonica var. multifoliolata