Our round mystery seeds from last week were from the common or garden sage, Salvia officinalis (The hint meant someone who is “wise” is a sage.)

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Perhaps you can recognize the seeds better from this public domain photograph from Wikimedia.

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Garden sage is a perennial herb, originally from the Mediterranean region.

good-sage-plant

The leaves of the most common variety are gray-green, but some may be variegated with cream or purplish areas.

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The leaves are soft and look bumpy.

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The botanical term for the bumpiness is rugose, and it is due to the plants veins forming a deeply-indented net.

Salvia_officinalisThis public domain illustration from Wikimedia shows the tubular flowers. The flowers vary in color from light pink to blue to purple, depending on the variety.

Sage is used in cooking, particularly at Thanksgiving.

Do you have a favorite recipe that uses sage?