Sage

Common name: sage. There are so many different kind of sages (more than 900 species)! Purple sage, pineapple sage, desert sage, but the most common one is the “garden sage” or “green sage”.

Botanical name: Salvia officinalis

Species: Lamiaceae

“I’m the wisest of all, the “mother protector”. My name says it all, salvia means “to be well, to save”, in Latin. I’ve also been called Salvia Salvatrix, “Sage the Saviour”. There are so many old sayings about how I can guarantee good health and long life.

Although very popular and wildly used throughout the world, I fell out of fashion. How wrong! Use me in tea or in cooking, but use me regularly as I am so good for you.”

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Cultivation

Sage grows easily from cutting. It can become a big bush, so make sure you have a good metre and a half of space before planting sage. It is drought and frost tolerant.

How does it do here in Central Otago? Originated from the Mediterranean, it likes dry climate, so sage usually grows really well in Central Otago. It will grow in most places though.

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Traditional medicinal uses

Its affinities are with the respiratory system, digestive system, reproductive system and nervous system.

Sage is astringent, stimulant, tonic and carminative. It can therefore be used in a digestive tea to help with digestion, bloating, excess of air in the guts, and other digestive issues. Being a tonic and stimulant, it can be used regularly in tea or cooking.

Sage is also a great remedy for sore throat, as a gargle.

Sage can help with so many ailments, it is hard to name them all!

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How to use it

Medicinally we use the leaves. It can be used as a herbal tea, tincture, in a powder with other aromatic herbs (like rosemary, oregano and thyme) for cooking, as a gargle for sore throat. You can also infuse it in olive oil for cooking.

The flowers can be used in salads to bring some colour and flavour.

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Precaution

Do not use sage during pregnancy or while breastfeeding.

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Mythology/Folklore

Sage has a long tradition of healing. Its name comes from the Latin “salvere”, meaning to be saved, due to its curative properties. The plant was sometimes even called ‘Sage the Saviour’.

The Romans associated it sage with longevity and used it in sacred rituals.

Elisabeth Brooke says that “sage works on the throat chakra and is useful where there are blocks of expression”.

Sage is one of the ingredients in the chakra balm.