Sage is one of the most famous and common essential oil herbaceous plants of the Lamiaceae family. It grows on almost the entire Mediterranean coast. In this large family, there are about nine hundred species of plants. True, not all of them have healing properties.
Decorative species of sage have found application in landscape design. In folk medicine, oak, nutmeg, steppe, meadow and medicinal species are most often used. This plant is grown in fields, gardens, orchards. The medicinal properties of sage were known in ancient Egypt, where women used infusions from this herb to stimulate conception. In addition to the fact that the plant has decorative and healing properties, some types of sage are used in cooking. It is an excellent seasoning for meat and fish dishes.
In this article we will present you the types, photos and names of sage, more precisely, its varieties, we will tell you how to properly apply this culture in the treatment of certain diseases. According to the method of use and to designate plantsflower growers and gardeners in everyday life call decorative types of sage (you will see a photo below), as well as varieties that are used to decorate various flower beds, salvia, from the Latin name of the genus - Salvia.
Plants used in medicine are called sage. Such a name, in fact, is an adaptation of the Latin name to the Russian language. The name of the plant, salvare, translates as "to protect", "to save".
Distribution
Under natural conditions, various types of sage grow in tropical and temperate regions of almost the entire world. The only exceptions are Australia and the Far North. Only in America there are about five hundred species of sage. Photos of the plant can be seen in all reference books and manuals for naturalists.
Under natural conditions, the plant prefers sunny places - rocky slopes, light forests, water and dry meadows, wastelands.
Sage: types and varieties
The huge family of sage combines such a number of decorative species that it is quite possible to create a variety of options for a decorative grassy carpet even for sophisticated flower growers. Amazing plant - sage. The types and differences between them allow you to choose a plant according to your preferences: some are distinguished by bright flowering, others create a durable and also fragrant carpet, others have a delicious taste.
Fast growing, unpretentious and undemanding to care for, sage is an excellent partner for many ornamental foliage and floweringplants. Most types of sage, photos of which can be found not only in manuals for herbalists, but also in landscape design, have healing properties to one degree or another.
Infusions and decoctions of sage are used to treat infertility, colds and viral diseases. In addition, medicinal preparations based on this plant are effective in a number of skin diseases, endocrine and neurological problems.
Salvia officinalis
Types of sage, photos of which are in the article, were most widely represented in southeastern Europe - Yugoslavia and Albania, Greece and Italy. Over time, they spread throughout the European territory, and even later - around the world. The leaves of this sage plant contain an essential oil rich in pinene, thujone, alkaloids, D-camphor, flavonoids and tannins.
In the fruits of this type of sage there is an essential oil containing glycerides and linoleic acid. Different types of sage officinalis are most common in our country. Sometimes it is also called garden.
External Features
A plant about eighty centimeters high, with a straight stem of a tetrahedral or rounded shape, branched and pubescent in the upper part. The leaves are gray-green in color, with whitish villi. They are elongated - from lanceolate to ovoid, up to ten centimeters long. The upper leaves are located on petioles, and the upper ones are without them. Cold hardy varieties exist:
- Aurea with creamy green leaves.
- Purpurascens with burgundy greens.
- Cterina with golden yellow, green-flecked leaves.
- Tricolor with creamy burgundy leaves.
In early summer, light purple flowers appear. Flowering continues throughout the summer. Sage is cross-pollinated. The fruits of the plant are small brown nuts, about three millimeters in diameter.
Elegant Sage
A variety of medicinal sage. This plant is up to a meter high with funnel-shaped red flowers that appear on the branches in late summer. If the leaves of this type of sage are rubbed in the palms, you will feel a fruity smell. This plant has found use in cooking, for example in fruit salads. Most popular varieties: Scarlet Pineapple, Tangerine Sage.
Sage clary
Some types of sage, the description of which can be found in reference books on herbal medicine, have exclusively medicinal properties. For example, clary sage has been used in medicine for a very long time. In addition, it is grown for essential oils. Today, such types of clary sage as Voznesensky 24, Crimean early and late are popular.
This plant can also be attributed to decorative types of sage (we posted a photo in this article) due to its compact size. This biennial plant does not exceed forty centimeters in height. Clary sage naturally grows in Central Asia, the Caucasus, Europe, and is cultivated everywhere.
This variety is also grown for the production of such a valuable product as sage oil. Sage grows mainly on sands, arable land, on clay and stony soils. The roots of this species contain coumarins, and the inflorescences and leaves contain aromatic resins. The plant has powerful antibacterial properties, and its roots, according to healers, prevent the development of tumors in the body.
Perennial types of sage: photo, description
Despite the fact that this is a heat-loving plant, some of its varieties tolerate winter frosts quite well. These include meadow and oak species.
Meadow sage
The plant is common in Europe. This type of sage prefers to settle on grassy and rocky slopes. Meadow sage in folk medicine is used in the form of tea, infusions for scrofula, ringworm, diseases of the digestive tract, scabies. In addition, infusions are effective for respiratory diseases, as well as for external use in the form of compresses, as well as rinses for periodontal disease, stomatitis, tonsillitis.
Meadow sage essential oil has an antimycotic effect. It has found application in cosmetology and perfumery. Salvia pratensis is much more fragrant than medicinal. Young leaves are astringent, while older leaves are bitter. For harvesting and drying, young shoots are cut before flowering. Popular varieties are Superba, Sensation White. The plant perfectly tolerates the summer heat, losing bitterness. It is added to various dishes, mainly fish and veal.
Oak Sage
This variety of sage is found in the European part of our country, in Central Europe, the foothills of the Crimea. The plant prefers forest edges, upland meadows and steppe slopes. Oak sage in its composition contains phytoncides, mineral s alts, essential oils and tannins. Its flowering period is from late June to September.
This type of sage, the photo of which can be seen in reference books on floriculture, has wrinkled leaves, the size of which decreases from bottom to top. The plant is represented in our country by many varieties that differ from each other in shades of inflorescences (lilac, purple, blue), flowering time, and size of bushes. The most common varieties are Schwellenburg, Caradonna, Adrian, Schneehugel, Marcus, Plumosa.
Sage of the Foretellers
In nature, there are species of sage that are prohibited for cultivation in our country. You can see a photo of the Salvia divinorum plant below. This variety does not have any fundamental differences in structure from other representatives of its kind. This is a perennial rhizomatous, herbaceous at the beginning of development, and later a semi-shrub plant.
Under natural conditions grows in the subtropics throughout the year. This is a rather rare species in its family, most widely represented in the remote mountainous regions of Mexico. Fortune telling sage has long been used by the indigenous people of the country - the Indians of the tribeMazatecs - for ritual rites, predictions.
The fact is that the leaves of this plant contain the strongest hallucinogen - salvinorin A, for this reason, and today lovers of narcotic mixtures smoke sage predictors. That is why the plant is prohibited from growing on the territory of our country.
Decorative sage
Kinds of decorative sage are actively used in landscaping summer cottages and garden plots, territories of country houses, parks and squares. Brilliant sage looks spectacular on flowerbeds, discounts. Compact varieties can be planted on balconies in pots and containers and are used in mixed arrangements to create bright spots. These plants are decorative throughout the season.
Ethiopian sage
This shrub is perfect for planting against rocks. Its large and beautiful rosettes with pubescent leaves in the first year and huge airy inflorescences in the second are unusually spectacular.
Compact Sage
Jurisic sage and dandelion - look great in mixboders in the foreground and in rockeries. Sage is practically not used for cutting, but mealy sage is an exception in this sense. Its velvety dark blue inflorescences in a vase retain their decorative effect for a long time, and when dried, they are an interesting material for creating winter bouquets. For the same purpose, faded whorled sage Purple Rain with very beautiful cups of purple and green sage will do.
In articlemany kinds of sage have been introduced to you. The photo and description will help you choose the right variety for growing in your garden or summer cottage. In addition to the species that we talked about, in natural conditions there are: green (variegated) and red sage, pigeon and golden, mountain silver and Remer, etc. Moreover, each type of plant also has dozens of varieties. And now it's time to talk about what healing properties this plant has.
Leaves
Sage leaves contain:
- alkaloids;
- tannins;
- essential oils.
In folk medicine, as well as in traditional medicine, tinctures and infusions of plant leaves are used in the treatment of diseases of the oral cavity, larynx, and pharynx. In addition, due to the large amount of vitamins and active substances in them, the leaves have astringent, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties. Sage leaves reduce sweating and improve the functioning of the digestive tract.
Sage seeds
Since ancient times, an infusion of sage seeds has been used to speed up pregnancy. Traditional healers use this remedy in the treatment of both men and women. They claimed that this drug increases the "suction" properties of the cervix and promotes conception.
Root system
But the roots of this plant are used by folk healers only in some countries. For example, in Korea, they are considered a powerful pain reliever and anti-inflammatory agent. In addition, in somecases, they are used to treat algic dysmenorrhea and rheumatoid arthritis, to normalize the menstrual cycle.
Sage based medicines: infusion
To prepare an infusion, you will need one part of dry raw materials, which is poured with ten parts of boiled warm water. You can take one part of fresh, pre-washed and crushed leaves and pour them with five parts of water. The leaves must be infused for at least two hours. Such a composition can be used as a disinfectant and anti-inflammatory agent for lotions, rinses, compresses, etc.
Decoction
To prepare this remedy, pour a tablespoon (tablespoon) of dry leaves with 200 ml of water and place the container in a water bath for twenty minutes. You can cook a decoction of sage in red wine. This remedy has a beneficial effect on the kidneys and liver. The action of sage will be even more enhanced if wormwood herb is added to the decoction.
Decoctions are used to treat hypertension, atherosclerosis, tremor paralysis. For various diseases of the oral cavity and throat, rinsing with a decoction is recommended. You can forget about inflammation of the gums forever if you regularly rinse your mouth with a decoction of this plant at least once a day.
Sage tablets
This is an effective and safe drug widely used to treat diseases of the throat, mouth, upper respiratory tract. This tool has undeniable advantages:
- natural composition;
- contains no sugar, so can be used by diabetic patients;
- effect occurs fifteen minutes after dissolving the tablet.
Sage oil
It has many medicinal properties. It reduces or completely relieves pain, reduces lactation if necessary, raises low blood pressure, promotes the speedy scarring of tissues and healing of wounds, eliminates excessive sweating. The oil has antispasmodic, tonic, antimicrobial, antirheumatic, blood-purifying, diuretic effects.
It has found wide application in cosmetology. It is used to narrow pores, to care for oily skin. It normalizes the balance of sebum secretion, stops hair loss, and eliminates dandruff.
Contraindications to the use of sage
The use of sage for medicinal purposes is allowed only after consulting a specialist, especially when it comes to taking drugs inside. It should not be forgotten that sage treatment is not a panacea for all diseases, the plant has quite a few contraindications, which include:
- individual intolerance to its individual components;
- pregnancy and breastfeeding;
- under five;
- acute nephritis;
- diseases of the nervous system;
- hypothyroidism;
- uterine fibroids;
- polycystic ovaries;
- endometriosis.
With prolonged use of sage-based preparations, some disorders of the nervous system, irritation of the mucous membranes may occur.
Growing a plant
Despite the diversity of sage species and the differences between them, there are growing requirements that unite all varieties:
- plants develop more actively on sandy light soils;
- prefer normal soil acidity (pH 6.5);
- perennial species need shelter and spring pruning.
Grow this plant in three ways: from seedlings, sowing seeds in the ground, dividing the bushes. If you want to grow sage at home, the seeds should first be soaked in Energen solution, which is a growth stimulator. To do this, dilute five drops of the drug in a quarter liter of water. Place the seeds in a cotton bag and soak in the solution for a day. After that, dry them a little and sow them in small separate containers, one seed at a time. Experienced flower growers recommend using peat pots.
In the spring, germinated seeds can be sown immediately in open ground. Pre-dig the selected area, make grooves and moisten them a little. Seeds are sown to a depth of no more than three centimeters. The distance between them is about fifteen centimeters. If sage is planted in late autumn, dry seeds must be used. Although this plant is not demanding on the composition of the soil, gardeners note that it develops more actively.on well-moistened and fertile land.
Decorative species are photophilous. This must be taken into account when choosing a landing site.
Care
Even a beginner in floriculture can take care of sage: the plant is undemanding in care. He needs only a rather rare watering, regular loosening of the soil around the shrub, weeding and top dressing. Every year, in early spring, organic fertilizers must be applied under the plant. Judging by the reviews of gardeners, liquid formulations are most suitable for this purpose - Agricola-Vegeta, Effekton-O.
In the summer it is necessary to feed the shrub twice. Sage can be grown in the same place for no more than six years. A plant older than four years old should be rejuvenated. Usually this procedure is carried out in early April. Shoots should be cut at a height of fifteen centimeters from the soil. This simple operation will make your plants more branchy and flowering more active.
Collecting raw materials
Sage is harvested twice a season. The first collection is held in early June. It is at this time that essential oil accumulates in the leaves. The second time sage is harvested in September. The grass is dried in the open air, laying it out on a cloth or paper in a thin layer.
Can be dried in an oven or in an electric dryer at a temperature of +30-35 °C. At higher temperatures, essential oils volatilize. Raw materials retain their useful properties for a year and a half. Store harvested grass in canvas or paper bags.
