"Salvia messii": a sky-blue and white flower discovered in Peru is named after Messi

Lionel Messi already has goals, titles, awards… and now also a flower named after him.

The new species

It's called Salvia messii and it's a plant species new to science. It was described by researchers Gonzáles, Uría and Capcha-Ramos, from the National University of San Marcos, in the scientific journal Phytotaxa, in October 2026.

It's a shrub that can grow up to one and a half meters tall. It grows only in the Andes of central and southern Peru, between about 2,000 and 2,400 meters above sea level, in the transition zone around the ancient Andean forests.

Why Messi?

Because of its flowers: they come in sky-blue and white shades, the colors of Argentina's national team jersey.

And there's a curious detail in the name: the double "i" at the end of *messii* isn't a typo. In Latin scientific names, that ending means the plant is dedicated to a person: it's "Messi's sage".

The double "i" in "messii" is a rule of scientific Latin: it means the species is dedicated to a person.

A flower in danger

The news has a serious side. Because the plant lives in a very small area, the authors provisionally classified it as an endangered species. Among the threats mentioned by the press are wildfires.

So the tribute may also serve another purpose: getting people to know the plant… and want to protect it.