Description:
Description and Variation: Salvia pratensis is a fibrous-rooted perennial ranging from one to two feet tall. The leaves are mostly basal, with a long stem. The three to six inch long leaves range from egg-shape to oblong. They may also be heart-shaped with a notch at the base and wrinkled. The leaf margins can be irregularly serrated (sharp, forward pointing) or rounded. There are very few, small leaves on the stem. The flowering stem is four to eight inches long, with flowers irregularly spaced at four to eight per node, in a whorl. The flowers are bilabiate, with the upper lip arched into a half circle. They are typically violet-blue, but can range from rose to dark violet in cultivated varieties. They are rarely pink or white. Flowers appear from June to August. The calyx bears long, shaggy hairs. The upper lip of the calyx is minutely three-toothed. The lower lip has pointed awns. The bracts under the flower heads are small (less than 1/2 inch), green, and broadly egg shaped. (Gleason and Cronquist 1991). The plant is aromatic, and covered with small hairs with the upper plant parts being glandular.

• Mechanical: Unknown.
• Biological: None known. Although it was originally introduced to control Mediterranean sage (S. aethiopis), the crown/root weevil, Phrydiuchus tau, does feed on clary sage. However, clary sage is not the preferred host (L. Wilson, pers. comm.).
• Herbicide: Picloram, 2,4-D, and dicamba reportedly control. Due to the hairiness of the plant, a surfactant is necessary (J.Yennish, pers. comm.).Refer to the State Noxious Weed Control Board site

For More Information:
Detailed information about Meadow Clary is available at the Washington State Noxious Weed Control Board Web Site.