salvia

/sal"vee euh/, n.

any plant of the genus Salvia, comprising the sages, having opposite leaves and whorled flowers.

[1835-45; < NL, L: sage]

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Any of about 700 species of herbaceous and woody plants that make up the genus Salvia, in the mint family.

Some members (e.g., sage) are important as sources of flavouring. Easy to propagate, transplant, and grow in poor soil and drought conditions, salvias are a garden staple. Best-known is the 1–3-ft (30–90-cm) annual scarlet sage (S. splendens) from Brazil, whose blazing spikes contrast with dark green, oval leaves from midsummer to frost. Blue sage (S. farinacea), of southwestern North America, is a favourite in dried winter bouquets.

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▪ plant genus

 the sage genus, containing more than 900 species of herbaceous and woody plants of the mint family (Lamiaceae), order Lamiales. Some members are important as sources of flavouring.

       sage proper (S. officinalis), a woody perennial growing to 60 cm (2 feet) tall, bears aromatic leaves that are the source of the culinary herb (see sage). Another species with foliage used for flavouring is clary (S. sclarea), a taller, biennial herb with strong-smelling, hairy, heart-shaped leaves. Its white flowers and leaflike bracts below them are pinkish or violet-flushed. Both species are native in southern Europe.

      Montane tropical America has many Salvia species, perhaps the most spectacular of which is Wagner's salvia (S. wagneri), or chupamiel, a treelike shrub, native near the mountain lakes of Guatemala. It attains more than 4 metres (13 feet) in height and has triangular, 30-cm (12-inch) spikes of woolly, scarlet corollas opening from magenta calyxes. Blue sage (S. farinacea) opens bright blue flowers after rains in the hills of southwestern North America. Possibly the best-known Salvia is the garden annual scarlet sage (S. splendens) from Brazil, the blazing spikes of which contrast with dark green, oval leaves.

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