(Salvia aethiopis)
Mediterranean sage is an erect, coarse, biennial or short-lived perennial, with a stout taproot. First-year rosettes are blue-green and are covered with woolly white hairs. Second-year plants produce more leaves with a flowering stem. Leaves have a pungent odor when crushed. The flower stem can grow 2 to 3 feet tall and branch 2 to 3 feet wide resembling a candelabra. The stem breaks off in the fall and forms a tumbleweed dispersing thousands of seeds. Mature plants can produce 100,000 seeds each. The flowers are white to yellowish-white and appear in clusters.
