When you think of salvia, your train of thought might automatically leap to the psychoactive effects associated with ingesting salvia divinorum. However, we’re not here to talk about queasy flashbacks to your freshman dorm, we’re here to talk about the lovely flowers that dot the tops of the plant more commonly known as sage.
The name is derived from the latin, ‘salvere’ (to feel well) which refers to the plant’s healing properties - its essential oils have been seen to improve cognitive performance to a level comparable to that of caffeine in tea and coffee. Pliny the Elder was the first to refer to the plant by this name, a righteous Roman who was revered as not only an author and philosopher but was also a naval and army commander of the early Roman empire. Yet again, FOTW draws our attention to another casual botanist from history making us feel bad for our own meagre achievements (suddenly having ten thousand followers on Instagram AND Twitter doesn’t seem such a great example of how multi-faceted your talents are, does it?).
Anyway, the main thing for us is that most varieties of salvia produce a wonderful smorgasbord of flowers. The petals soar up in densely packed formations, sitting atop a bed of aromatic leaves in a burst of brilliant violet. A little bloom that can brighten up any bouquet.
