Wikimedia Commons
Lamiaceae
Clary Sage
Salvia sclarea
Clear sight, ancient wisdom, calming.
- Family
- Lamiaceae
- Genus
- Salvia
- Native to
- Mediterranean
- Bloom season
- Summer
- Type
- Biennial
- Height
- 90–150 cm (3–5 ft)
- Sunlight
- Full sun
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Low to moderate
- Hardiness
- 5–9
- Lifespan
- Biennial
Did you know
- Clary sage flowers are tiny, but they're surrounded by huge papery pink-and-purple bracts—the bracts are the real visual show, lasting for many weeks even after the actual flowers fall.
- The name 'clary' comes from 'clear-eye'—medieval herbalists used clary sage seeds soaked in water as a folk remedy for removing dust or splinters from the eye, and the mucilage really does work.
- Clary sage essential oil is one of the most valuable in aromatherapy and perfumery—it's an essential ingredient in classic chypre perfumes and is now used in commercial 'tobacco absolute' fragrance bases.
- The leaves were used in 16th-century England as a substitute for hops in beer—'clary ale' was a famously potent brew that 'caused men to dance and laugh,' according to old herbalists.
- The crushed flowers smell unmistakably of fresh sweat and amber—not unpleasant, but startlingly animalic, which is exactly why perfumers prize the oil for adding warmth to floral fragrances.
Color meanings
0
clear sight
1
ancient wisdom
2
calming