Salvia sclarea
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| Salvia sclarea L. |
Salvia sclarea (clary or clary sage), is a biennial or short-lived perennial herb in the genus Salvia, native to Europe east to central Asia. It grows to 1 m tall, with opposite leaves 10-20 cm long and 6-12 cm broad, with a thick woolly texture. The flowers are in several clusters of 2-6 together on the stem, 2.5-3.5 cm long, white to pink or pale purple. Its strong and unusual odour is considered unpleasant by some, while others find it very attractive.
[edit] Uses
The distilled essential oil is occasionally found in specialty stores such as natural food stores and "scent shops". The odour is sometimes described as "sweaty", spicy or "hay-like". Clary seeds have a mucilaginous coat, and so old herbals recommended putting a seed into the eye of someone with a foreign object in it, to adhere to the object and make it easy to remove.
The leaves have been used as a vegetable in cookery. Clary was used as a flavouring in ales before the use of hops became common, and also in wine, notably muscatel. It is also used as a flavouring in some tobacco products. Clary can be used as a tea or in aromatherapy, and is supposed to have a calming effect.
It is the primary ingredient in Norambrolide, a fat-burning ingredient found in Cytodine Laboratories' weight loss product, Xenadrine NRG.
[edit] References
- Huxley, A. et al., eds. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. Macmillan.
