Birth flower for August 23
Scarlet sage
Meaning: Family love, respect
Both the tubular flowers and their calyces are bright red, stacked in tiers along the spike so the plant looks like a lit torch. Many children in Taiwan and Japan have pulled out a flower to sip the drop of sweet nectar at its base. The genus name Salvia comes from the Latin for to heal, after the medicinal sages in the same family.