''Salvia verticillata'', the lilac sage or whorled clary, is a herbaceous perennial native to a wide area ranging from central Europe to western Asia, and naturalized in northern Europe and North America. It was first described by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

in 1753. ''Salvia verticillata'' has a leafy base of mid-green leaves covered with hairs, putting up leaf-covered stems that carry inflorescences. The tiny lavender flowers grow tightly packed in whorls, with tiny lime-green and purple calyces. The specific epithet ''verticillata'' refers to the whorls that grow in verticils. A cultivar introduced in the 1990s, 'Purple Rain', is much more showy and long-blooming, growing about tall.

References

verticillata Flora of Europe Flora of temperate Asia Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Salvia-stub