''Salvia sclarea'', the clary or clary sage, is a

biennial Biennial means (an event) lasting for two years or occurring every two years. The related term biennium is used in reference to a period of two years. In particular, it can refer to: * Biennial plant, a plant which blooms in its second year and th ...

or short-lived herbaceous

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wid ...

in the genus ''

Salvia ''Salvia'' () is the largest genus of plants in the sage family Lamiaceae, with nearly 1000 species of shrubs, herbaceous perennials, and annuals. Within the Lamiaceae, ''Salvia'' is part of the tribe Mentheae within the subfamily Nepetoi ...

''. It is native to the northern Mediterranean Basin, along with some areas in north Africa and

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

. The plant has a lengthy history as an herb, and is currently grown for its essential oil.

Description

''Salvia sclarea'' reaches in height, with thick square stems that are covered in hairs. The leaves are approximately long at the base, long higher on the plant. The upper leaf surface is rugose, and covered with glandular hairs. The flowers are in verticils, with 2-6 flowers in each verticil, and are held in large colorful bracts that range in color from pale mauve to lilac or white to pink with a pink mark on the edge. The lilac or pale blue corolla is approximately , with the lips held wide open. The cultivar ''S. sclarea'' 'Turkestanica' bears pink stems, petiolate leaves, and white, pink-flecked blossoms on spikes to tall.

History

Descriptions of medicinal use of the plant goes back to the writings of

Theophrastus Theophrastus (; grc-gre, Θεόφραστος ; c. 371c. 287 BC), a Greek philosopher and the successor to Aristotle in the Peripatetic school. He was a native of Eresos in Lesbos.Gavin Hardy and Laurence Totelin, ''Ancient Botany'', Routle ...

(4th century BCE),

Dioscorides Pedanius Dioscorides ( grc-gre, Πεδάνιος Διοσκουρίδης, ; 40–90 AD), “the father of pharmacognosy”, was a Greek physician, pharmacologist, botanist, and author of '' De materia medica'' (, On Medical Material) —a 5-vo ...

(1st century CE), and

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ' ...

(1st century CE). Clary seeds have a

mucilaginous Mucilage is a thick, gluey substance produced by nearly all plants and some microorganisms. These microorganisms include protists which use it for their locomotion. The direction of their movement is always opposite to that of the secretion of ...

coat, which is why some old herbals recommended placing a seed into the eye of someone with a foreign object in it so that it could adhere to the object and make it easy to remove. This practice is noted by

Nicholas Culpeper Nicholas Culpeper (18 October 1616 – 10 January 1654) was an English botanist, herbalist, physician and astrologer.Patrick Curry: "Culpeper, Nicholas (1616–1654)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (Oxford, UK: OUP, 2004) His bo ...

in his ''Complete Herbal'' (1653), who referred to the plant as "clear-eye". It was used as an ingredient in

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

and

beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...

production. In 16th-century Germany

elderflower ''Sambucus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Adoxaceae. The various species are commonly called elder or elderberry. The genus was formerly placed in the honeysuckle family, Caprifoliaceae, but was reclassified as Adoxaceae due to ge ...

infused clary was added to Rhine wines to make a more potent varietal known as Muscatel.Rodale's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Herbs
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Uses

The distilled essential oil is used widely in

perfume Perfume (, ; french: parfum) is a mixture of fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds (fragrances), fixatives and solvents, usually in liquid form, used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living-spaces an agreeable scent. Th ...

s and as a muscatel flavoring for

vermouth Vermouth (, ) is an aromatized fortified wine, flavoured with various botanicals (roots, barks, flowers, seeds, herbs, and spices) and sometimes colored. The modern versions of the beverage were first produced in the mid- to late 18th centur ...

s, wines, and liqueurs. It is also used in

aromatherapy Aromatherapy is based on the usage of aromatic materials including essential oils and other aroma compounds, with claims for improving psychological and physical well-being. It is offered as a complementary therapy or as a form of alternative ...

. In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, large scale production is concentrated in northeastern

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

in the counties surrounding Bertie County.

Gallery

File:ClarySageEssOil.png, ''Salvia sclarea'' essential oil File:Lamiaceae - Salvia sclarea. Agata Fossili127.JPG, Plants of ''Salvia sclarea'' File:Salvia sclarea02.jpg, Plant of ''Salvia sclarea'' File:Salvia sclarea1.jpg, Clusters of clary flowers File:Lamiaceae - Salvia sclarea.JPG, Close-up File:Lamiaceae - Salvia sclarea-2.JPG, Close-up File:Lamiaceae - Salvia sclarea-1.JPG File:Lamiaceae - Salvia sclarea. Agata Fossili197-1.JPG, Leaves

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q157872 sclarea Herbs Medicinal plants Essential oils Flora of Lebanon Flora of Western Asia Flora of North Africa Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus