Salvia palaestina

"Salvia palaestina" is a herbaceous perennial native to a wide area including what was historically known as Palestine, 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 referring to its geographical distribution "in Palæstinæ montibus inter Gaza et Jerusalem", or the mountains between Gaza and Jerusalem.