Salvia sclarea

Description

Salvia sclarea reaches 3 to in height, with thick, square stems covered in hairs. The leaves are approximately 1 ft long at the base, and .5 ft long higher up on the plant. The upper leaf surface is rugose, and covered with glandular hairs. The flowers are in verticils, with between two and six flowers in each verticil, and are held in large colorful bracts that range in color from pale mauve to lilac or white-to-pink with a pink mark on the edge. The lilac or pale-blue corolla is approximately 1 in, with the lips held wide open. The cultivar S. sclarea 'Turkestanica' bears pink stems, petiolate leaves, and white, pink-flecked blossoms on spikes that grow up to 30 in tall.

History

The plant’s medicinal uses are described as far back as the 4th century BCE, in the writings of Theophrastus, as well as in the 1st century CE writings of Dioscorides and Pliny the Elder).

Clary seeds have a mucilaginous coat, which is why some centuries-old herbal guides recommend placing a seed into the eye of someone with a foreign object in it so that it could adhere to the object and make it easy to remove. This practice is noted by Nicholas Culpeper in his Complete Herbal (1653), who referred to the plant as "clear-eye".

It has also long been used as an additive to wine and beer. In 16th-century Germany elderflower-infused clary was added to Rhine wines to make a more potent beverage known as Muscatel.

Uses

The distilled essential oil of Salvia sclarea is used widely in perfumes (most often as a supporting note) and as a muscatel-like flavoring for vermouths, wines, and liqueurs. It is also used in aromatherapy.

In the United States, this oil is mostly produced on a large scale in and around Bertie County in northeastern North Carolina.

Gallery

File:ClarySageEssOil.png|Salvia sclarea essential oil File:Lamiaceae - Salvia sclarea. Agata Fossili127.JPG|Plants of Salvia sclarea File:Salvia sclarea02.jpg|Plant of Salvia sclarea File:Salvia sclarea1.jpg|Clusters of clary flowers File:Lamiaceae - Salvia sclarea.JPG|Close-up File:Lamiaceae - Salvia sclarea-2.JPG|Close-up File:Lamiaceae - Salvia sclarea-1.JPG File:Lamiaceae - Salvia sclarea. Agata Fossili197-1.JPG|Leaves

References

References

1. "''Salvia sclarea'' L.".
2. "Salvia sclarea (Clary Sage, Clear Eye, Europe Sage, Eyebright) {{!}} North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox".
3. (2003). "The New Book of Salvias". Timber Press.
4. Mark Griffiths. (1995). "Index of Garden Plants". Timber Press.
5. (2020-02-28). "Celtic Provenance in Traditional Herbal Medicine of Medieval Wales and Classical Antiquity". Frontiers in Pharmacology.
6. "''The Complete Herbal'': Clary, or More Properly Clear-Eye".
7. (15 January 1998). "Rodale's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Herbs". Rodale.
8. "Мускатный шалфей: растение с историей и характером".
9. Kintzios, Spiridon E.. (2000). "Sage: The Genus Salvia". CRC Press.
10. (1974). "Clary Sage Production in the Southeastern United States". 6th International Congress of Essential Oils.