SAGE. 425 



poses. The young stalks, the leaf-stems, and the ribs and 

 nerves of the leaves, are purple ; the young leaves are also 

 sometimes tinged with the same color, but generally change 

 by age to clear green. 



The Red-leaved is generally regarded as possessing a 

 higher flavor than the Green-leaved, and is preferred for 

 cultivation ; though the difference, if any really exists, is 

 quite unimportant. The productiveness of the varieties is 

 nearly the same. The leaves of the Green Sage are larger 

 than those of the Red, but the latter produces them in 

 greater numbers. 



A variety of the preceding ; the young shoots, Green- 

 the leaf-stalks, and the ribs and nerves of the GKEEN-TOP. 

 leaves, being green. 



There appears to be little permanency in the characters by 

 which the varieties are distinguished. Both possess like 

 properties, and are equally worthy of cultivation. From seeds 

 of either of the sorts, plants answering to the description of 

 the Red-leaved and Green-leaved would probably be pro- 

 duced, with almost every intermediate shade of color. 



Leaves narrow, hoary, toothed towards the Warrow- 



leaved Green 

 base ; the spikes of flowers are long, and Sage. Mill. 



SACK OF VIRTUE. 



nearly leafless ; flowers deep blue ; the seeds 

 are similar to those of the Red-leaved, and produced four 

 together in an open calyx. Compared with the Common 

 Red-leaved or Green-leaved, the leaves are much narrower, 

 the spikes longer and less leafy, and the flowers smaller and 

 of a deeper color. 



The variety is mild flavored, and the most esteemed of all 

 the sorts for use in a crude state, as it is also one of the best 

 for decoctions. 



36* 



