Salvia officinalis
Flowers
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Lamiales
Family:	Lamiaceae
Genus:	Salvia
Species:	S. officinalis
Binomial name
Salvia officinalis L.

Salvia officinalis (garden sage, common sage) is a perennial, evergreen subshrub, with woody stems, grayish leaves, and blue to purplish flowers. It is a member of the family Lamiaceae and is native to the Mediterranean region, though it has naturalized in many places throughout the world. It has a long history of medicinal and culinary use, and in modern times as an ornamental garden plant. The common name "sage" is also used for a number of related and unrelated species.

Taxonomy[link]

Salvia officinalis was described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753. It has been grown for centuries in the Old World for its food and healing properties, and was often described in old herbals for the many miraculous properties attributed to it.^[1] The specific epithet, officinalis, refers to the plant's medicinal use—the officina was the traditional storeroom of a monastery where herbs and medicines were stored.^[2] S. officinalis has been classified under many other scientific names over the years, including six different names since 1940 alone.^[3]

Description[link]

Sage leaves

Cultivars are quite variable in size, leaf and flower color, and foliage pattern, with many variegated leaf types. The Old World type grows to approximately 2 ft (0.61 m) tall and wide, with lavender flowers most common, though they can also be white, pink, or purple. The plant flowers in late spring or summer. The leaves are oblong, ranging in size up to 2.5 in (6.4 cm) long by 1 in (2.5 cm) wide. Leaves are grey-green, rugose on the upper side, and nearly white underneath due to the many short soft hairs. Modern cultivars include leaves with purple, rose, cream, and yellow in many variegated combinations.^[1]

History[link]

Painting from Koehler's Medicinal Plants (1887)

Salvia officinalis has been used since ancient times for warding off evil, snakebites, increasing women's fertility, and more. The Romans likely introduced it to Europe from Egypt as a medicinal herb.^[4] Theophrastus wrote about two different sages, a wild undershrub he called sphakos, and a similar cultivated plant he called elelisphakos. Pliny the Elder said the latter plant was called salvia by the Romans, and used as a diuretic, a local anesthetic for the skin, a styptic, and for other uses. Charlemagne recommended the plant for cultivation in the early Middle Ages, and during the Carolingian Empire, it was cultivated in monastery gardens.^[4] Walafrid Strabo described it in his poem Hortulus as having a sweet scent and being useful for many human ailments—he went back to the Greek root for the name and called it lelifagus.^[5]

The plant had a high reputation throughout the Middle Ages, with many sayings referring to its healing properties and value.^[6] It was sometimes called S. salvatrix (sage the savior), and was one of the ingredients of Four Thieves Vinegar, a blend of herbs which was supposed to ward off the plague. Dioscorides, Pliny, and Galen all recommended sage as a diuretic, hemostatic, emmenagogue, and tonic.^[5]

Uses[link]

The top side of a sage leaf - trichomes are visible.

The underside of a sage leaf - more trichomes are visible on this side.

Common sage is grown in parts of Europe for distillation of an essential oil, though other species, such as Salvia fruticosa may also be harvested and distilled with it.

As a kitchen herb, sage has a slight peppery flavor. In British cooking, it is used for flavoring fatty meats, Sage Derby cheese, poultry or pork stuffing, Lincolnshire sausage, and in sauces. Sage is also used in Italian cooking, in the Balkans, and the Middle East. It is one of the major herbs used in the traditional turkey stuffing for the Thanksgiving Day dinner in the United States. Despite the common use of traditional and available herbs in French cuisine, sage never found favour there.

Salvia and "sage" are derived from the Latin salvere (to save), referring to the healing properties long attributed to the various Salvia species.^[5] It has been recommended at one time or another for virtually every ailment by various herbals. Modern evidence shows possible uses as an antisweating agent, antibiotic, antifungal, astringent, antispasmodic, estrogenic, hypoglycemic, and tonic.^[7] In a double blind, randomized and placebo-controlled trial, sage was found to be effective in the management of mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease.^[8]

The strongest active constituents of sage are within its essential oil, which contains cineole, borneol, and thujone. Sage leaf contains tannic acid, oleic acid, ursonic acid, ursolic acid, cornsole, cornsolic acid, fumaric acid, chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, niacin, nicotinamide, flavones, flavonoid glycosides, and estrogenic substances.^[7]

Investigations have taken place into using sage as a treatment for Alzheimer's disease patients.^{[8][9][10][11]} Sage leaf extract may be effective and safe in the treatment of hyperlipidemia.^[12]

Common names[link]

Salvia officinalis has numerous common names. Some of the best known include sage, common sage, garden sage, golden sage, kitchen sage, true sage, culinary sage, Dalmatian sage, and broadleaf sage. Cultivated forms include purple sage and red sage. In Turkey, salvia officinalis is widely known as adaçayı, meaning "island sage". in the levant its called maramia.

Cultivars[link]

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:

• 'Alba', a white-flowered cultivar
• 'Aurea', golden sage
• 'Berggarten', a cultivar with large leaves, which rarely blooms, extending the useful life of the leaves
• 'Extrakta', has leaves with higher oil concentrations
• 'Icterina', a cultivar with yellow-green variegated leaves
• 'Lavandulaefolia', a small leaved cultivar
• 'Purpurascens' ('Purpurea'), a purple-leafed cultivar
• 'Tricolor', a cultivar with white, yellow and green variegated leaves

See also[link]

• Aroma compound
• Essential oil
• Sage oil
• Salvia
• Thujone

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• The Herb Society of America New Encyclopedia of Herbs & Their Uses, Deni Bown (New York: DK, 2001)

External links[link]

• American Botanical Council
• USDA Plants Profile
• Historical medicinal use: from botanical.com
• Salvia officinalis in Plantarium Database - A Photo Guide.
• Salvia officinalis Israel native Plants

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