736 
SAGE 
Stems and blossoms of California white sage. 
Altho the plants are well adapted to live in 
semiarid regions, if there is a drought, they 
dry up and become valueless to the bee¬ 
-keeper. The flowers are often injured by 
the sage worm, and the foliage by rust. 
The honey is water-white, thick and heavy, 
and does not granulate. 
Purple Sage (Salvia leucophylla ).—This 
species is a much larger shrub than the 
black sage and the whorls of light-purple 
flowers are nearly twice the size of those of 
the latter species. The honey is water- 
white, does not granulate, and its flavor is 
considered a little superior to that of the 
other sage honeys. It begins to bloom usu¬ 
ally a little later than the black sage, but 
the honey flows from both species nearly 
coincide. Purple sage is most abundant in 
Ventura County where it is a characteris¬ 
tic feature of the vegetation of the foot¬ 
hills. 
White Sage (Salvia apiana ).—A shrub 
3 to 8 feet tall, which is less bushy than the 
black sage, the branches being long, 
straight, and slender. The 2-lipped white 
flowers are produced in great profusion in 
lateral racemes and the leaves are grayish 
white on both sides. The lower flowers 
open first. It begins to bloom the latter 
half of May and the blooming period lasts 
from six to eight weeks. On the dry plains 
or mesa lands and foothills of southern 
California there are thousands of acres of 
this beautiful shrub and one may ride thru 
avenues of it for miles. One range is de¬ 
scribed as a mile wide and two miles long, 
consisting practically of unbroken white 
sage. 
The white sage secretes much less nectar 
than does either the black or purple sage. 
In districts where both the black and white 
sages are abundant beekeepers have esti¬ 
mated that the black yielded ten pounds of 
honey to one from the white species. To 
