SAL 



SAL 



The young branches should be laid down hi 

 the spring, and when well-rooted, in the follow- 

 ing autunui, be taken off and planted out where 

 they are to remain, a warm sheltered situation 

 being provided for the purpose. 



Though these plants are inhabitants of the 

 sea shores, they may be introduced in the bor- 

 ders and clumpj of the shrubbery with other 

 evergreens. 



SALVIA, a genus containing plants of uuder- 

 ehrubby, heibaceous, and shrubby kinds. 



It belongs to the class and order Diandria 

 Jlonogi/iiia, an& ranks in the natural order of 

 Verticillalce. 



The characters are : that the calyx is a one- 

 leafed perianth, tubular, striated, gradually wi- 

 dening and compressed at the top ; mouth erect, 

 two-lipped ; lower lip two-toothed : the corolla 

 one-petalled, unequal : tube widening at the 

 top, compressed ; border ringent, upper lip con- 

 cave, compressed, curved inwards, emarginate ; 

 lower lip wide, trifid, middle segment larger, 

 roundish, emarginate : the stamina have two 

 filaments, very short ; two threads are fastened 

 transversely to these almost in the middle, on 

 the lower extremity of which is a gland, on the 

 upper an anther : the pistillum is a four-cleft 

 germ : style filiform, very long, in the same si- 

 tuation with the stamens : stigma bifid : tliere is 

 no pericarpium. Calyx very slightly conver- 

 ging, having the seeds in the bottom of it : the 

 seeds four, roundish. 



The species cultivated are: 1. S. officinalis. 

 Garden Sage ; 2. S. grandiflora. Broad-leaved 

 Garden Sage ; 3. S. triloba, Three-lobed Sage, 

 or Sage of Virtue; 4, S. sclai-ea, Common 

 Clary; 3. S. argentea, Silvery-leaved Sage or 

 Clary ; 6. iS'. verbenaca, Vervain Sage or Clary ; 

 7. S. Indica, Indian Sage or Clary; 8. S. Hor- 

 minum. Red-topped Sage or Clary ; 9. S. gluti- 

 nosa. Yellow Sage or Clary; 10. S. Mexicana, 

 Mexican Sage; U.S. Canariensis, Canary Sagcj 



12. S. ^fricann, Blue-flowered African Sage; 



13. S. aurea, Gold-flowered African Sage; 14. 

 S. pomifera, Apple-bearing Sage; 15, S.J'or- 

 mosa, Shining-leaved Sage. 



The first is a branching shrub, about two feet 

 in height : the younger branches are tomentose 

 and whitish : the leaves are wrinkled, cinereous 

 white or tinged with dusky purple, on very short 

 petioles, sometimes eared at the base : the flow- 

 ers lerminatini^, in long spikes composed of six- 

 flowered whorls, approximating, yet distinct. 

 It is a native of the South of Europe and Bar- 

 bary. 



The varieties arc : the Common Green Sage, 

 the Wormwood Sage, the Green Sage with a va- 

 riegated leaf, the Red Sage, the Red Sage with a 



variegated leaf, the Painted or Parti-coloured Sage 

 with red leaves striped with white, or while red and 

 green mixed, found, says Johnson, " in a country 

 garden by Mr. John Tradescant, and by him 

 imparted to other lovers of plants." There is 

 also Spanish or Lavender-leaved Sage, in which 

 the leaves are linear-lanceolate, very narrow and 

 quite entire, in clusters on the side of the stalks; 

 they are very hoary, and the branches are cover- 

 ed with a hoary down : the leaves on the upper 

 part of the stalk are narrower than those of 

 Rosemary ; the flowers grow in closer spikes, 

 and are of a light blue colour. 



But the variety with red or blackish leaves is 

 the most common in cultivation ; and the 

 Wormwood Sage is in greater plenty than the 

 common green-leaved Sage. 



In the second species the stalks do not grow 

 so upright as those of the common Sage ; they 

 are very hairy, and divide into several branches : 

 the leaves are broad, woolly, on long petioles, 

 serrate, and rough on the upper surface: the 

 leaves on the flower-stalks are oblong-ovate, on 

 shorter petioles, and very slightly serrate : the 

 whorls are pretty far distant, and few flowers in 

 each ; they are of a pale blue, and about the 

 same size v^'ith those of the common sort. It 

 flowers in June, and in good seasons the seeds 

 ripen in autumn. This sage is preferred to all 

 the others for tea. It is often called Balsamic 

 Sage. 



The third has the leaves narrower than those 

 of the common sort ; they are hoary, and some 

 of them are indented on their edges towards the 

 base, which indentures have the appearance of 

 ears. The spikes of flowers are longer than 

 those of the two preceding sorts, and the whorls 

 are generally naked: the flowers are smaller, 

 and of a deeper blue than those of the Common 

 Sage. It is a native of the South of Europe. 



The fourth species has the lower leaves large, 

 in good ground seven or eight inches long, and 

 four broad at the base, endmg in blunt points : 

 the stems large and clammy, about two feet 

 high, with leaves of the same shape, but smaller, 

 and sending out small opposite side branches : 

 the flowers in loose terminating spikes, com- 

 posed of whorls, of a pale blue colour. It is 

 biennial, and a native of Syria, &c. flowering 

 from July to September. 



It is observed, that " a wine is made from the 

 herb in flower boiled with sugar, which has a 

 flavour not unlike Frontiniac." 



The fifth has the leaves of a thick consistence, 

 having several irregular indentures on their bor- 

 ders : the stem near a foot and half high, send- 

 ing out two or four branches near the bottom, 

 which grow erect : the whorls of flowers large. 



