Sage has been considered a sacred herb since the times of antiquity, a salvaging and saving herb. Its very name, Salvia, comes from the Latin "salvare", to salvage, save. Different Sage species have been used around the world for thousands of years. Still today, the North American Indians use it to fumigate their sweat huts, to purify and facilitate the communication with divine powers. It's said to remove negative energies and is associated with the idea of wisdom. In the Medieval times, sage was considered a 'panacea', a 'cure-all', and was cultivated in monastery gardens. Sage also plays a part in many Muslim rituals, at weddings and births as an incense. It has a fragrance similar that of White Sage (Salvia apiana). Loose incense is generally burnt on charcoal tablets. 

This herb was sustainable and carefully handpicked from the wild by a dear old friend who lives in the mountains of Crete, area Preveli in Greece.

Due to its wide variation in leaf shape, there has been a great deal of taxonomic confusion over the years, with many of the leaf variations of Salvia fruticosa being named as distinct species. These include S. libanotica, S. triloba, S. lobryana, and S. cypria, which are now considered to be Salvia fruticosa. The variation in leaf depends on geographical area, with plants growing on the western part of Crete having entire leaves with flat blade and margins and dark green upper sides. Plants growing on the eastern side of the island have much smaller leaves, with deeply three-lobed yellowish-green blade and undulate margins. The variation continues throughout different parts of Greece.

Other names: Salvia fruticosa