Appearance
''S. sclarea'' reaches 3 to 4 ft in height, with thick square stems that are covered in hairs. The leaves are approximately 1 ft long at the base, .5 ft long higher on the plant. The upper leaf surface is rugose, and covered with glandular hairs. The flowers are in verticils, with 2-6 flowers in each verticil, and are held in large colorful bracts that range in color from pale mauve to lilac or white to pink with a pink mark on the edge. The lilac or pale blue corolla is approximately 1 in , with the lips held wide open. The cultivar ''S. sclarea'' 'Turkestanica' bears pink stems, petiolate leaves, and white, pink-flecked blossoms on spikes to 30 inches tall.
Evolution
Descriptions of medicinal use of the plant goes back to the writings of Theophrastus , Dioscorides , and Pliny the Elder .
Uses
Clary seeds have a mucilaginous coat, which is why some old herbals recommended placing a seed into the eye of someone with a foreign object in it so that it could adhere to the object and make it easy to remove. This practice is noted by Nicholas Culpeper in his ''Complete Herbal'' , who referred to the plant as "clear-eye".The distilled essential oil is used widely in perfumes and as a muscatel flavoring for vermouths, wines, and liqueurs. It is also used in aromatherapy.
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