"Salvia miltiorrhiza, also known as red sage, Chinese sage, tan shen, or danshen, is a perennial plant in the genus Salvia, highly valued for its roots in traditional Chinese medicine. Native to China and Japan, it grows at 300 to 3,900 feet elevation, preferring grassy places in forests, hillsides, and along stream banks. The specific epithet miltiorrhiza means "red juice extracted from a root".

S. miltiorrhiza is a deciduous perennial with branching stems that are 0.98 to 2.0 feet tall, with widely spaced leaves that are both simple and divided. The 0.98 foot inflorescences are covered with hairs and sticky glands. Flowers grow in whorls, with light purple to lavender blue corollas that are approximately 0.082 foot long, with a dark purple calyx. Salvia miltiorrhiza prefers well draining soil, with about half a day of sunlight. It is hardy to approximately 14 °F. Most Salvia seeds have a higher germination rate when exposed to light, though it is not required."

Taken from wikipedia's page at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S...

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