Salvia aurea flowers

Salvia aurea, the geelblomsalie (yellow flower salvia) in Afrikaans, is a long-flowering garden favourite. The yellow flowers, crowded at the branch tips, are transformed in colour during the course of the flowering season to orange and brown. In older flowers the shape changes later as well when the corolla falls, leaving only the large papery bracts of the saucer-shaped calyx.

Much nectar is produced for attracting various pollinators, including sunbirds. This makes the insects crawl inside the flower under the long-lipped flower hood where the stamens hide. The stamens swivel down upon being touched by the visitors, causing pollen to rub off from the flowers anthers onto the backs of insects or beaks of birds. The pollinators transport this pollen when they depart, unaware of their cargo, to the next flower in their search for the sugary nectar (Bean and Johns, 2005; Manning and Goldblatt, 1996; iNaturalist; www.plantzafrica.com).