Salvia bowleyana is a perennial plant

Perennial plant

A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter lived annuals and biennials. The term is sometimes misused by commercial gardeners or horticulturalists to describe only herbaceous perennials...

 that is native to China, south of the Yangtze River, growing on hillsides, streamsides, forests, and valleys between 30 to 9600 m (98.4 to 31,496.1 ft) elevation. It is used medicinally in China in the same way as Salvia miltiorrhiza

Salvia miltiorrhiza

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 elevation, preferring grassy places in forests, hillsides, and along...

and is often confused with it. Salvia miltiorrhiza's common name is "dan shen", while S. bowleyana's is "nan dan shen", which means "southern dan shen".

Salvia bowleyana grows up to 1 metres (3.3 ft) tall, with flowers that are purple to purple-blue.