Buddleja is a wonderfully charismatic genus of flowering shrubs and small trees in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae, celebrated for its long, nectar-rich flower clusters and its easy, airy garden presence. The genus contains more than 100 species and has a broad native range stretching across tropical and subtropical parts of the Americas, Africa, Madagascar and Asia. The name honours the English botanist and clergyman Rev. Adam Buddle, and the plants are especially admired for their fragrant blooms and their ability to draw in butterflies and other visiting insects.

Buddleja salviifolia is a semi-evergreen bushy shrub that grows up to 4m high under favourable conditions. Its leaves are dark green and conspicuously wrinkled and puckered above, densely covered with whitish or brown hairs below. Leaves can be broadly or narrowly long. Masses of small, white to lilac blooms are borne in large panicles. The flowers are sweetly scented and vary in colour from dull to clear white to almost true purple. Flowering occurs from August to October (spring). Buddleja salviifolia attracts many insects such as bees, butterflies and birds. In a garden design sagewood is useful as a framework or background plant. It is very decorative when in flower. If pruned often, it makes an excellent hedge. Besides its use in horticulture, this plant has other economic uses. Its leaves are browsed by game. Fresh and dried leaves make an aromatic herbal tea. Medicinally, a decoction of roots provides a remedy for cough and for relief of colic while an infusion of the leaves is applied as an eye lotion.