Salvia sagittata is a herbaceous perennial plant that is native to the Andes Mountains, growing at elevations from 9,500 to 10,500 ft (2,900 to 3,200 m). The specific epithet refers to the arrow-shaped leaves. The plant was collected and named in 1798 by Hipólito Ruiz López and José Antonio Pavón Jiménez, two Spanish botanists who spent ten years in Peru and Chile on a commission by the government of Spain to go to the New World in search of new medicinal and agricultural plants.