Salvia aurea

Salvia aurea, sometimes called the dune salvia, is a rounded, hardy, aromatic shrub that reaches heights from 1 m to 2 m.

It bears golden-brown spring flowers that mature into a rusty orange and later become brown. The saucer-like calyx persists when the petals drop off and is an attraction itself. The plant attracts many kinds of birds and insects. The salvias get their name from the Latin word salvere which means to salve or to heal.

The species distribution is restricted to a narrow coastal band from Namaqualand in the Northern Cape, through the Western Cape to Port Alfred in the Eastern Cape.

The habitat is coastal fynbos, scrub and thicket on alkaline dune sand and granitic outcrops. The species is not considered threatened in habitat early in the twenty first century.

Note that the flower bracts among the leaves are here green, hardly discernible from the leaves. In another photo in this Album the bracts are purplish brown (Manning, 2007; iNaturalist; www.plantzafrica.com; http://redlist.sanbi.org).