Salvia officinalis

Plant Characteristics

Habit		shrub
Height:	⇕	30 in"in" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 30.
Lifespan:	⌛	perennial
Bloom:	❀	early summer, mid summer, late summer

Cultivation

Exposure:	☼	sun
Features:	✓	flowers
USDA Zones:		5 to 10
Flower features:	❀	red, blue, purple, pink, white

Scientific Names

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Salvia officinalis (Sage, Common sage, Garden sage, Kitchen sage, Culinary sage, Dalmatian sage, Purple sage, Broadleaf sage, Red sage) is a small perennial evergreen subshrub, with woody stems, grayish leaves, and blue to purplish flowers. It is a member of the mint family, Lamiaceae. It is native to the Mediterranean region and commonly grown as a kitchen and medicinal herb or as an ornamental garden plant. The word sage or derived names are also used for a number of related and unrelated species.

Read about Salvia officinalis in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Salvia officinalis, Linn. Sage. Hardy, white-woolly subshrub, 6-12 in. high: sts. shrubby, the flowering branches tomentose-pubescent: lvs. entire, 1-1 1/2 in. long, petiolate, oblong, base narrowed or rotund, the lower white-tomentose or lanate beneath or on both surfaces; the floral lvs. sessile, ovate, acuminate at the base, membranaceous, striate: racemes subsimple; floral whorls few, many-fld., distinct; calyx campanulate, membranaceous-colored, striate, pubescent or villous, the teeth subulate-acuminate; corolla purple, blue or white. Medit. region. June.—A common and variable species. The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

Varieties

Cultivars: There are a number of cultivars, with the majority grown as ornamentals rather than for their herbal properties. All are valuable as small ornamental flowering shrubs, and for their use as a low ground cover, especially in sunny dry environments. They are easily propagated from summer cuttings, and some cultivars are produced from seeds. Named cultivars include:

• 'Purpurascens', a purple-leafed cultivar
• 'Tricolor', a cultivar with white, yellow and green variegated leaves
• 'Berggarten', a cultivar with large leaves
• 'Icterina', a cultivar with yellow-green variegated leaves
• 'Alba', a white-flowered cultivar
• 'Extrakta', has leaves with higher oil concentrations
• 'Lavandulaefolia', a small leaved cultivar

Var. albiflora; Alef., has lvs. 3-4 times as long as broad: fls. white.

Var. aurea, Hort., is a compact rather dwarf form about 1 ft. high, with golden yellow foliage.

Var. aurea variegata, Hort., is offered in the trade.

Var. crispa, Alef., has broad, crisped and variegated lvs. Var. icterina, Alef., has green-and-gold lvs.

Var. latifolia, Alef., has lvs. twice as long as broad; one of the common cult. forms.

Var. Milleri, Alef., has rather red and spotted lvs. Var. purpurascens, Alef., has somewhat reddish foliage and is said to be preferred in England for kitchen use on account of its strong and pleasant taste.

Var. rubriflora, Alef., has lvs. 3—4 times as long as broad, and red fls. Var. salicifolia, Alef., has lvs. 4-7 times as long as broad. Var. sturnina, Alef., has green-and-white lvs.

Var. tricolor, Vilm. (S. tricolor, Hort., not Lem.), has lvs. of three colors, gray-green, veined with yellowish white and flesh-pink, later becoming velvety rose-red or deep red.

Var. tenuior, Alef., has lvs. about 3—4 times as long as broad and blue fls. This is the form commonly cult. as a kitchen herb.

Gallery

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External links

• w:Salvia officinalis. Some of the material on this page may be from Wikipedia, under the Creative Commons license.
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