Salvia officinalis, Common sage, Garden sage, Kitchen sage, Dalmatian sage,
Hebrew: מרווה רפואית, Arabic: قصعين طبي

"Cur moriatur homo cui Salvia crescit in horto?" - "Why should a man die while sage grows in his garden?"
- a medieval saying -
'He that would live for aye, Must eat Sage in May.'
- English proverb -

Scientific name:		Salvia officinalis
Common name:		Common sage, Garden sage, Kitchen sage, Dalmatian sage
Hebrew name:		מרווה רפואית
Arabic name:		قصعين طبي
Family:		Labiatae / Lamiaceae, שפתניים

Life form:		Chamaephyte
Stems:		60 cm high, branching, young branches tomentose and whitish
Leaves:		Opposite, entire, dissected once, wrinkled, cinereous white or tinged with dusky purple, very short petioles
Flowers:		Flowers terminating, in long spikes of six-flowered whorls; lilach
Fruits / Pods:		Nutlets
Flowering Period:		March, April, May, June
Habitat:		Mediterranean maquis and forest
Distribution:		Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands
Chorotype:		Mediterranean
Summer shedding:		Perennating

Derivation of the botanical name: Salvia, Latin salvere, to save, referring to the long-believed healing properties of salvia. Pliny the Elder was the first known to use the Latin name salvia. officinalis, sold as an herb; medicinal. The Israeli botanists Dr. Ephraim and Hanah Hareuveni pointed out that the architecture of the vertical inflorescence of this species of Salvia resembles the shape of the Menorah, in particular—the Salvia Palaestina. Therefore, they suggested that it had inspired the design of the Menorah. Moreover, based on etymology perspectives they suggested that the Hebrew word “Marva, מרווה” (Salvia) was originated from the Hebrew word “Moriah” (the Temple Mount name), reflecting the connection between this plant and the Menorah, which was situated inside the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy. Sage was one of the ingredients of Four Thieves Vinegar, a vinegar made from thyme, rosemary, sage, and lavender. This blend of herbs believed to protect the user against the plague (Black Death). It was supposedly created around 1630 by four robbers from Toulouse who waited for plague victims to be removed for burial, and then entered their houses and looted them. They were eventually caught and sentenced to death, but so great was the need to find protection against the plague, that they were given their freedom in exchange for the recipe, which apparently left them untouched by the disease. The ancient Egyptians used Salvia officinalis to increase fertility.