Salvia palaestina

About

Salvia palaestina is a herbaceous perennial native to a wide area including what was historically known as Palestine, (which now includes Israel and the West Bank) and is also native to Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Iran, the Sinai peninsula and northeastern Egypt. It was named and described by George Bentham in 1835, with the specific epithet (palaestina) referring to its geographical distribution "in Palæstinæ montibus inter Gaza et Jerusalem", or the mountains between Gaza and Jerusalem.