It appears from the _Hortus Kewensis_ to have been cultivated by Mr. JAMES SUTHERLAND as long since as the year 1683 it was not however generally introduced to our gardens till the time of MILLER, who figured it in his _Icones_, it was then understood to be an Æthiopian plant; Mr. AITON since describes it as a native of the Cape also; of course, we find it more tender than most of its kindred, and hence it is usually regarded as a greenhouse plant; yet, as it is not destroyed by a small degree of frost, it will frequently, like the myrtle survive a mild winter in the open border, especially if trained to a wall: it is rarely of more than two or three years duration.
It is readily raised from seeds sown in the open ground, plants from which flower the August following, and, in favourable seasons, ripen their seeds; in order, however, that they may ripen them with more certainty, MILLER, recommends the sowing them early on a gentle hot-bed.
_Cor._ inæqualis. _Filamenta_ transverse pedicello affixa.
SALVIA _aurea_ foliis subrotundis integerrimis, basi truncatis dentatis. _Linn. Syst. Veget. ed. 14. Murr. p. 71._ _Ait. Hort. Kew. V. 1. p. 45._
SALVIA _Africana_ frutescens folio subrotundo glauco, flore magno aureo. _Comm. Hort. 2. 183. t. 92._
Such as are delighted with the singular rather than the beautiful appearances of plants, cannot fail of ranking the present species of sage among their favourites.
It been called _aurea_, from the colour of its flowers, _ferruginea_ would perhaps have been more expressive of them; when they first open indeed they are of a yellow colour, but they quickly and constantly become of the colour of rusty iron.
The leaves are nearly round, and have a pleasing silvery hue: a few of them only, and those chiefly at the extremities of the young shoots, are of the form described by LINNÆUS in his specific character of the plant, and hence COMMELIN'S description (_vid. Syn._) is to be preferred, as leading us with more certainty to a knowledge of the plant; the colour of the leaves, the colour and unusual magnitude of the blossoms, are indisputably the most striking features of the species, and therefore to be resorted to: for my own part, as a friend to the advancement of the science, rather than as the follower of that great man, I see no good reason why colour should not in many instances, especially where expressive characters are wanting, form a part of the specific character in plants, as well as in animals: we are told indeed of its inconstancy. I would ask--who ever saw the colour of the leaves or blossoms of the present plant to vary? and, on the contrary, who ever saw its leaves constant in their form?