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Salvia tiliifolia
Also called Tarahumaran Chia
Lindenleaf sage (Salvia tiliifolia) is a vigorous, herbaceous annual in the mint family, native to Mesoamerica and now found across the Americas, Africa and parts of Asia. It grows as a weedy pioneer on disturbed ground, so it needs little care beyond sun, warmth and dry soil.
Salvia tiliifolia (lindenleaf sage or Tarahumara chia) is a vigorous, herbaceous annual in the family Lamiaceae that is native to Central America. As a pioneer of abused areas, the plant has spread in modern times into: South America, as far south as Peru and Bolivia; the southwestern regions of the United States, including the states Texas and Arizona; Africa, including South Africa and Ethiopia; China, including the provinces of Yunnan and Sichuan.
This species is native to Mesoamerica, and a number of similar species have been domesticated at least as far back as 3,400 BCE. Chia was an important item in the Aztec diet and was widely used by them. Salvia tiliifolia is still harvested by the Tarahumara. The Aztecs roasted chia seed mixed with amaranth seed, corn flour, and maguey syrup to form a dough referred to as "tzoalli" in Nahuatl—routinely eaten and still consumed.
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 tiliifolia 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.
