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Salvia pomifera

Common name:	Apple Sage	Family:	Labiatae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	93, 200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	S. Europe - Greece, Turkey and Crete.
Habitat:	Rocky slopes, limestone cliffs and macchie from sea level to 800 metres in Turkey[93].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	2	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	2

Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Apple-bearing Sage [H], Elelisphakos [E],
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Lamiales. Renamed to Lamiaceae -- Mint family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Europe

Physical Characteristics

An evergreen shrub growing to 1m by 1m . It is hardy to zone 8. It is in leaf all year, in flower from May to July. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects. We rate it 2/5 for edibility and 2/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires dry or moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Cultivated Beds, In Walls, In South Wall, In West Wall.

Edible Uses

Condiment Tea.

The leaves have a strong odour and flavour, resembling lavender and common sage[183]. They are used as an adulterant of sage as a commercial food flavouring[183, 238].
An infusion of the herb is used to make a tea[183]. Very fragrant, it is called 'fascomiglia'[200].
Semi-transparent galls are formed on the plant as a result of gall wasps invading the young branches. These galls are made into a kind of conserve or sweetmeat by crystallizing them in sugar and this is regarded as a great delicacy by the Greeks[183, 200]. They have an agreeable and astringent flavour[4]. We are not sure if the galls are used before or after the insect has departed[K].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Miscellany.

An infusion of the dried leaves is used medicinally in Greece[4]. The report does not give any details as to the uses, but does say that in excess the tea causes profuse perspiration, languor and even faintness[4]. The leaves are said to have the same properties as common sage (S. officinalis), but to be stronger in their action[238]. These properties are antihydrotic, antiseptic, antispasmodic, astringent, carminative, cholagogue, galactofuge, stimulant, tonic and vasodilator[4, 9, 13, 21, 165, 238].

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Requires a very well-drained light sandy soil in a sunny position[200]. Prefers a rich soil[1]. Soils rich in nitrogen encourage excessive leaf growth at the expense of flowering[11].
This species is not hardy in the colder areas of the country, it tolerates temperatures down to between -5 and -10° c[200]. Plants can be killed by excessive winter wet[200].
Members of this genus are rarely if ever troubled by browsing deer[233].

Propagation

Seed - sow March/April in a greenhouse[200]. Germination usually takes place within 2 weeks. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and plant them out in early summer. In areas where the plant is towards the limits of its hardiness, it is best to grow the plants on in a greenhouse for their first winter and plant them out in late spring of the following year.
Cuttings of half-ripe wood succeed at almost any time in the growing season[200].

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

Details of Medicinal Uses, Habitats, etc. in M. Grieve A Modern Herbal (1931) [4]
[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.

[9] Launert. E. Edible and Medicinal Plants. Hamlyn 1981 ISBN 0-600-37216-2
Covers plants in Europe. a drawing of each plant, quite a bit of interesting information.

[11] Bean. W. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. Murray 1981
A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.

[13] Triska. Dr. Hamlyn Encyclopaedia of Plants. Hamlyn 1975 ISBN 0-600-33545-3
Very interesting reading, giving some details of plant uses and quite a lot of folk-lore.

[21] Lust. J. The Herb Book. Bantam books 1983 ISBN 0-553-23827-2
Lots of information tightly crammed into a fairly small book.

[93] Davis. P. H. Flora of Turkey. Edinburgh University Press 1965
Not for the casual reader, this is an immense work in many volumes. Some details of plant uses and habitats.

[165] Mills. S. Y. The Dictionary of Modern Herbalism.
An excellent small herbal.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[233] Thomas. G. S. Perennial Garden Plants J. M. Dent & Sons, London. 1990 ISBN 0 460 86048 8
A concise guide to a wide range of perennials. Lots of cultivation guides, very little on plant uses.

[238] Bown. D. Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, London. 1995 ISBN 0-7513-020-31
A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
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