List of Salvia species

Salvia is the largest genus of plants in the family Lamiaceae, with the number of species estimated to range from 700 to nearly 3,000.

[2][3][4] The first significant accounting of the genus was done by George Bentham in 1832–1836, based on a similarity in staminal morphology between Salvia members.

Even though there were only 291 species at that time, he still considered the possibility of forming five or six genera, due to differences between certain groups of Salvia.

Bentham eventually organized the genus into four subgenera and twelve sections, based on differences in the corolla, calyx, and stamens.

[2] The classification of Salvia has long been based on the genus' unusual pollination and stamen structure, which was presumed to have evolved only once.