black sage

noun

1. a shrubby Californian plant, Salvia mellifera, of the mint family, having an interrupted spike of lavender-blue or white flowers.

Word History and Origins

Origin of black sage¹

An Americanism dating back to 1875–80

Example Sentences

Hikers can see California buckwheat, arroyo willow, black sage, big berry manzanita and hairy ceanothus.

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Every inch of the perimeter is covered with plastic and ceramic pots brimming with buckwheat and verbena, dudleya, penstemon and black sage.

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Meyer said the event is family-friendly, with nonalcoholic beverages including his recipe for lemonade infused with black sage, “one of the most common plants that grow in the wild areas of L.A.”

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David Bryant, the campaigns and engagement manager for the California Native Plant Society, waxes rhapsodic about the way black sage varieties enhance vanilla flavor.

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Woolly bluecurls plants tend to live only a few years, while black sage seems to thrive in dry, sunny and even rocky terrain.

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