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Salvia nemorosa
Also called Balkan Clary, Wood Sage
Woodland sage is a hardy, clump-forming perennial with violet to blue flower spikes, widely grown in gardens for its ease and long bloom. It thrives in full sun and well-drained soil, and is easy to propagate from cuttings or division.
Salvia nemorosa, the woodland sage, Balkan clary, blue sage or wild sage, is a hardy herbaceous perennial plant native to a wide area of central Europe and Western Asia.
It is an attractive plant that is easy to grow and propagate, with the result that it has been passed around by gardeners for many years. Its wide distribution, long history, and the ease with which it hybridizes have resulted in many cultivars and hybrids—along with problems in clearly identifying the hybrids and their relationship with S. nemorosa. It was named and described by Carl Linnaeus in 1762, with nemorosa ("of woods") referring to its typical habitat in groves and woods.
There are numerous cultivars widely grown in horticulture. Many of them are hardy to –18 °C., with flowers ranging in color from violet, to violet-blue, rosy pink, and even white. All are perennial, with numerous leafy stems growing from the base at the beginning of summer. The plant prefers full sun, good drainage, and moderate weekly watering. The plant is hardy to USDA Hardiness Zones Zones 4–8.
The word 'salvia' strings from the Latin word, 'salvare' which it is translated to "health". Places, such as Russia, tend to use 'salvia nemorosa' to help treat diarrhea as well as hemorrhages.
Leaves of Salvia nemorosa have been used in Turkish medicine to stop bleeding by applying externally. Diterpenes and triterpenes have been isolated from aerial parts of S. nemorosa: nemorone, nemorosin, horminone, 7-acetylhorminone, salvinemorol, megastigmane glycosides (salvionosides A, B and C), pachystazone, salvipisone, α-amyrin, ursolic and oleanolic acids, stigmast-7-en-3-one, 24-methylenecycloartanol, stigmast-4-en-3-one, β-sitosterol, stigmast-7-enol, as well as flavonoids salvigenin, eupatilin, apigenin and luteolin.
Egyptian Sage · Mediterranean sage · White sage · Brown Sage · Santa Rosa Island sage · Buchanan's Sage · Guatemalan Leaf Sage · Candelabra Sage · Cayman sage · Fragrant sage · Blood sage · Chia
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Salvia nemorosa by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
