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Salvia
officinalis L.
Standardized Common
Name: Sage
Other Common Names: Common Sage,
Dalmatian Sage, Garden Sage, Meadow Sage, Red Sage, True Sage
Family: Lamiaceae (Labiatae)
Taxonomy: The genus Salvia
is of worldwide distribution and includes some 500–900 species. Salvia
officinalis is placed within Sect. Salvia. It is widespread and
variable, and its separation from other species is sometimes unclear. S.
tomentosa Mill. is sometimes considered to be synonymous with S.
officinalis, and a Spanish sage given specific status by some authors as S.
lavandulifolia Vahl is frequently treated as a subspecies, variety, or
series of forms of S. officinalis. The strictest definition of S.
officinalis (otherwise known as subsp. or var. officinalis) is
accepted here, although intermediate forms between S. officinalis and S.
lavandulifolia, which is highly variable and has a complex synonymy of its
own, suggest that the two may not really be distinct.
Description: Perennial shrub.
Stems to 60 cm high, much-branching, pubescent. Leaves opposite, crowded on
branches, long-petioled, oblong to lanceolate or narrowly ovate, 2–7(–10) cm
long, (0.6–)1–2(–3) cm broad, densely pubescent and glandular-punctate; base
more or less cuneate; apex acute to obtuse; margins entire to crenulate.
Inflorescence an interrupted spike of verticillasters, each 5–10-flowered,
flowers subtended by short bracts. Calyx bilabiate, 10-14 mm long, with
acuminate or narrowly acute triangular teeth, green or purplish, sparsely
pubescent at base and along veins, glandular-pubescent throughout. Corolla
bilabiate, 20–25(–35) mm long, blue to pink or white; upper lip 2-lobed,
arched; lower lip 3-lobed, the central lobe largest. Stamens 2. Fruit 4 nutlets.
Parts
in Commerce:
Leaves
Identification:
- Lanceolate to
oblong or narrowly ovate, 2–7(–10) cm long and (0.6–)1–2(–3) cm broad
- Petiole long (to
4.5 cm), grooved, densely hairy
- Blade becoming
narrower near base; base cuneate to slightly rounded, sometimes
asymmetrical; not cordate, truncate, nor lobed
- Apex acute, not
acuminate
- Surface
irregular; areas between netted veins raised on upper surface, veins
raised and areas between them sunken on lower surface
- Margins minutely
crenulate to nearly entire, not lobed or conspicuously toothed
- Both surfaces
very hairy, with short slightly crinkly white hairs, also with glandular
trichomes appearing under dissecting microscope as glistening yellowish to
orange-red dots
- Upper surface
green, with tuft of hair and 1–several glandular hairs on each raised
area, almost hairless over veins
- Lower surface
pale green or gray-green; midrib and secondary veins whitish, prominent;
pubescent throughout, especially over veins, also with numerous glandular
hairs
- Any stem
fragments quadrangular, pubescent with short white hairs
- Odor
characteristic, aromatic
- Taste bitter,
aromatic, astringent
Adulterants: S. fruticosa
Mill. (also often called S. triloba L.f.), which is cultivated and
marketed as Three-lobe Sage or Greek sage, has often been found in European
commercial sage. It has a harsher odor, which has been said to resemble that of
spike lavender, and contains much less thujone than S. officinalis. Most
of the foliar characteristics of S. officinalis apply to S. fruticosa
as well. Its leaves are sometimes, though not always, pinnately compound,
having a single large lanceolate terminal leaflet with 2–4 much smaller
leaflets or lobes at its base. Its long non-glandular hairs become thicker at
the base than those of S. officinalis, in which the hairs, only a few
micrometers thick, remain slender all the way to the base. The lower surface
may be so densely pubescent that it appears white to the naked eye, whereas
that of S. officinalis typically appears pale green or grayish. Several
pharmacognostic references state that the leaf of S. officinalis is
commonly lobed at the base, but this may be due to widespread inclusion of S.
fruticosa, because the leaves of S. officinalis (sensu stricto) are
not normally lobed.
Salvia tomentosa, called
“balsamic sage,” is reportedly confused with S. officinalis in Eastern
Europe, where both may be grown (and it is considered by some to represent the
same species). The leaves of S. tomentosa are sometimes ovate and
relatively broader than those of S. officinalis, up to 5 cm broad; the
base is rounded to cordate, and occasionally may have small basal lobes similar
to those of S. fruticosa. One publication (St. Chakalova et al.) has
stated that the large majority of the glandular hairs of S. tomentosa
were on the lower leaf surface, with less than 1 gland per square mm on the
upper surface and several times that on the lower surface, whereas the
glandular hairs of cultivated S. officinalis were more evenly
distributed. Also, whereas S. officinalis may have glandular hairs with
either one- or two-celled stalks, S. tomentosa had only glandular hairs
with one-celled stalks; a light microscope and preparation of leaf sections on
slides would be necessary to observe this feature. However, those data were
based upon limited samples and are not necessarily applicable to other
populations of the same species.
S. lavandulifolia Vahl: This taxon might
well be properly lumped into S. officinalis as subsp. lavandulifolia
(Vahl) Gams. The leaves are narrowly oblong to linear, 4–10 mm broad, and do
not exceed 5 cm in length. The pubescence is longer and denser, particularly on
the lower surface, which is so densely hairy that it appears whitish and the
smaller veins and glands may be virtually obscured, as in S. triloba;
occasionally the midrib and secondary veins are less hairy and stand out as
darker.
References:
Afzal-Rafii Z. Etude cytotaxonomique et
phylogénétique de quelques Salvia de la région méditerranéenne: Groupe
du Salvia officinalis L. Bull Soc Bot Fr. 1976;123:515–531.
Bolòs i Josep Vigo O. Flora dels Països Calalans,
vol. 3. Barcelona: Editorial Barcino; 1995.
Hedge IC. Salvia. In: Tutin TG, Heywood VH, Burges NA, et al., eds. Flora Europaea. Vol. 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 1972:188–192.
St. Chakalova E, Genova EM, Thuy NT. Comparative
anatomical investigations on leaves of Salvia officinalis L. and S.
tomentosa Mill. Fitologija. 1993;46:3–11.
Tucker AO, Maciarello MJ, Howell JT. Botanical
aspects of commercial sage. Econ Bot. 1980;34:16–19.
Youngken HW. Text-Book of Pharmacognosy, 5th ed. Philadelphia, PA: The
Blakiston Company; 1943:748–752.
Figure 62: a–b, Salvia officinalis leaf and close-up of lower surface; c–d, S.
fruticosa leaf and close-up of lower surface.
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