Salvia miltiorrhiza  from which Red Sage is obtained is a deciduous perennial plant native to China and Japan.

It is covered with little hairs and quite  sticky glands and its flowers grow in whorls, with light purple to lavender blue corollas that are approximately 2.5 cm with a dark purple calyx. It is quite hardy down to minus 10 degrees celsius as would be expected of a high altitude plant for it grows at between 100 and 1,200 metres. It is known as Red Sage because of its root colour and not its flowers.

It is also known as Chinese sage, Tan shen, Huang Ken & Ch’ih Shen or Danshen

Traditional Uses for Red Sage :-

The outside of the taproot of Red Sage, which is one of the parts used in medicine is red. 

It is widely used in traditional Chinese medicine for treating chronic renal failure.The root is also used in China  for the treatment of coronary heart disease

Danshen is one of five ingredients in tangzhiqing used in traditional Chinese medicine for treating diabetes.

History of Red Sage:-

The word miltiorrhiza means red ochre root

Cautions:-

This herb should be avoided by users of any anti coagulant medicines (such as Warfarin)  as it will increase the effects of the anti coagulant properties and make the precise prescription of such drugs impossible to determine, maintain and control.