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Salvia pratensis
Also called Meadow clary, Meadow Sage, Prairie Meadow Sage, Western Meadow Sage
Salvia pratensis, meadow clary or meadow sage, is a hardy perennial sage from Europe and western Asia with clumps of ruffled leaves and violet-blue flowers. It is grown mainly for its long flower spikes and tolerates cold very well.
Salvia pratensis, the meadow clary or meadow sage, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae, native to Europe, western Asia and northern Africa. The Latin specific epithet pratensis means "of meadows", referring to its preferred habitat. It also grows in scrub edges and woodland borders.
Salvia pratensis is hardy in the severest European climates, down to −40 °C (−40 °F). It is widely grown in horticulture, especially Salvia pratensis subsp. haematodes, which is prized by flower arrangers as a cut flower. Some botanists consider it a separate species, S. haematodes.
Named cultivars include:-
Salvia pratensis is native to Europe, western Asia and northern Africa where it grows in meadows, fields, banks and rough places. It has become naturalized in many parts of the United States, and is considered a noxious weed in the state of Washington. At one time it was banned from California because it was thought to have naturalized in three locations.
The name of the plant 'clary' is derived from 'clear-eye' and the plant seeds were historically ground to a paste and used to clear irritations in the eye. It was also used for gargling and as an early form of toothpaste, as well as a flavouring for alcohol.
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 pratensis 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.
