Salvia officinalis

Lore & Background

Carl Linnaeus first described Salvia officinalis in 1753. For centuries, people in the Old World cultivated it for both food and healing, and old herbals often credited it with miraculous properties. Its species name, officinalis, points to its traditional medicinal use. The Romans called sage the "holy herb" and used it in religious rites.

Theophrastus noted two types: a wild shrub he called sphakos and a cultivated one he named elelisphakos. Pliny the Elder reported that Romans used salvia as a diuretic, skin anesthetic, and styptic. Dioscorides, Pliny, and Galen all recommended it as a diuretic, hemostatic, emmenagogue, and tonic.

Reader's Guide

Salvia officinalis has a long history of culinary use and has been used in modern times as an ornamental garden plant. In Britain, sage has for generations been listed as one of the essential herbs, along with parsley, rosemary, and thyme. It appears in many European cuisines, notably Italian, Balkan and Middle Eastern cookery.

In Italian cuisine, it is an essential ingredient for saltimbocca and other dishes, and is fried to make salvia fritta. In British and American cooking, it is traditionally served as sage and onion stuffing, an accompaniment to roast turkey or chicken. The plant had a high reputation throughout the Middle Ages, with many sayings referring to its healing properties and value. It was sometimes called S. salvatrix (sage the savior).

Emperor Charlemagne recommended the plant for cultivation in the early Middle Ages, and during the Carolingian Empire, it was cultivated in monastery gardens. As of 2017, S. officinalis was under preliminary research for its possible effects on cognitive performance, although its long-term effects remain undetermined. Salvia essential oils contain α and β-thujone, a neurotoxin that can cause convulsions in animals and severe intoxication in humans, leading the European Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products and European Medicines Agency to recommend a daily limit of 6 mg for supplemental use.

Did You Know?

• The common name 'sage' is also used for closely related species and cultivars.
• Sage is sometimes associated with plague remedies, but the earliest known recipes for Four Thieves Vinegar date from the 17th century, not the 14th.
• The plant flowers in late spring or summer, with leaves ranging up to 65 mm long by 25 mm wide.