Salvia tubiflora is a perennial native to a small area of western Peru and northern Chile near the tropic of Capricorn, growing at elevations from to .
Salvia tubiflora grows up to tall and wide, with heart shaped yellow-green leaves that reach long and wide. The undersides have prominent veins with tiny hairs arranged in rows. The sparse flowers are a dark cranberry-red color, growing two or three in a whorl, on stiff inflorescences that reach long. The flowers are long, straight and tube shaped, which explains the specific epithet tubiflora. The calyx is an unusual reddish green color and covered with small hairs and glands.