Salvia scutellarioides is an evergreen perennial native to the Andes Mountains in Ecuador, Colombia, and Peru, growing at elevations from 3,300 to 10,000 feet in mild climates where there is year-round moisture. Even though it was described by Carl Sigismund Kunth in 1817, as of 2002 it was still rarely seen in horticulture. The specific epithet is due to its similarity to Scutellaria, a genus in the mint family.