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Salvia verbenaca

Common name:	Wild Clary	Family:	Labiatae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	17, 200
Synonyms:	Salvia horminoides (Pourret.), Salvia controversa (Willk. non Ten.), Salvia clandestina (L.)
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Mediterranean region to Spain, France and Britain.
Habitat:	In Britain it is found wild in only one place on sand dunes at Vazon Bay in Guernsey[17]. In Europe it is found in dry grassland, avoiding acid soils and shade.
Edibility Rating (1-5):	2	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	2

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	S. clandestina var. angustifolia[G] S. cleistogama[G] S. verbenacea[B,C,CAL,E,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Clary,Wild [E], Gallocresta [E], Kleinbloemige Salie [D], Oculus Christi [H], Verbena Sage [B,P], Vervain Sage [H], Wild Clary [H], Wild English Clary [H],
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Lamiales. Renamed to Lamiaceae -- Mint family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Britain(Wales) Sicily Spain

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 0.6m. It is hardy to zone 6. It is in flower from June to September, and the seeds ripen from July to October. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Bees and Cleistogomy (self-pollinating without flowers ever opening). The plant is self-fertile. It is noted for attracting wildlife. 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 neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires dry or moist soil and can tolerate drought. The plant can tolerates strong winds but not maritime exposure.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Meadow, Cultivated Beds.

Edible Uses

Condiment Flowers Leaves Tea.

Leaves - raw or cooked. They are most often used as a flavouring in cooked foods. They are aromatic. The young leaves can be eaten fried or candied[183].
A herb tea is made from the leaves, it is said to improve the digestion.
Flowers - raw. A flavouring in salads[177, 183].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Ophthalmic.

The seed forms a thick mucilage when it is soaked for a few minutes in water. This is efficacious in removing small particles of dust from the eyes[4].

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Requires a very well-drained light sandy soil in a sunny position[200]. Prefers a rich soil[1]. Plants can be killed by excessive winter wet[200].
This species is well suited to the wild garden, growing well in the summer meadow[200]. A good bee plant[200].
Members of this genus are rarely if ever troubled by browsing deer[233].

Propagation

Seed - sow March/April in a greenhouse. 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.
Division in spring.

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

References for Salvia horminoides (a possible synonym).

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database

References for Salvia verbenacea (a possible synonym).

[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[C] Taxon data. from the CalFlora database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants 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

[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.

[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.

[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.

[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.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
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