Pliny the Elder said the latter plant was called salvia by the Romans, and used as a diuretic, a local anesthetic for the skin, a styptic, and for other uses. Theophrastus wrote about two different sages, a wild undershrub he called sphakos, and a similar cultivated plant he called elelisphakos. The Romans referred to sage as the 'holy herb,' and employed it in their religious rituals. Salvia officinalis has been used since ancient times for warding off evil, snakebites, increasing women's fertility, and more. Painting from Koehler's Medicinal Plants (1887)

It is the type species for the genus Salvia. officinalis has been classified under many other scientific names over the years, including six different names since 1940 alone. The binary name, officinalis, refers to the plant's medicinal use-the officina was the traditional storeroom of a monastery where herbs and medicines were stored. It has been grown for centuries in the Old World for its food and healing properties, and was often described in old herbals for the many miraculous properties attributed to it. Salvia officinalis was described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753. The specific epithet officinalis refers to plants with a well-established medicinal or culinary value. Cultivated forms include purple sage and red sage. Some of the best-known are sage, common sage, garden sage, golden sage, kitchen sage, true sage, culinary sage, Dalmatian sage, and broadleaf sage. Salvia officinalis has numerous common names.

Sage leaves