From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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

Salvia sclarea, clary, or clary sage, is a biennial or short-lived herbaceous perennial in the genus Salvia. It is native to the region from Central Asia to the north Mediterranean.

Botany

It is a short lived herbaceous perennial that reaches 1 m in height when in flower. In winter it dies back to a basal rosette. The leaves have a woolly-texture leaves and are 10-20 cm long and 6-12 cm broad. Its flowers appear in several clusters of 2-6 on the stem, are 2.5-3.5 cm long, and are white, pink, or pale purple in color. The bracts on the flowering stems have similar colors to the flowers. Oil bearing glands occur profusely on the flowering stems. ^[1]

Uses

The distilled essential oil, which contains the fragrant chemical compound sclareol, is occasionally found in specialty stores and scent shops. This odor is sometimes described as "sweaty", spicy, or "hay-like".

Clary has a strong and unusual odor that is considered unpleasant by some and very attractive to others.

Today it is mostly grown in England, France, and southern Russia for the perfume industry.^{[citation needed]} Clary seeds have a mucilaginous coat, which is why some old herbals recommended 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.^{[citation needed]}

The leaves have also been used as a vegetable.

In ales, clary was used as a flavoring before the use of hops became common. Additionally it has been used to flavor wine, notably muscatel, and some tobacco products.

It is often grown as an ornamental plant in gardens.

Gallery

Clusters of clary flowers

1. ^ Clebsch: the New Book of Salvias

• Huxley, A; et al., (Eds) (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. Macmillan. 
• German: Wikipedia: Muskatellersalbei

From Wikispecies

Salvia sclarea

Taxonavigation

Classification System: APG II (down to family level)

Main Page
Cladus: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiospermae
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: core eudicots
Cladus: Asterids
Cladus: Euasterids I
Ordo: Lamiales
Familia: Lamiaceae
Subfamilia: Nepetoideae
Tribus: Mentheae
Genus: Salvia
Species: Salvia sclarea
Varieties: S. sclarea var. turkestaniana

Name

Salvia sclarea L.

Reference

Species Plantarum 1:27. 1753

Vernacular names

For more multimedia, look at Salvia sclarea on Wikimedia Commons.