Turkish sage

Appearance

Phlomis russeliana is a robust herbaceous plant with flowering shoots reaching 1 metre and it grows in forest clearings and light woodland in north Turkey from 300 - 1700 metres. The rosette of heart-shaped leaves persist overwinter and are grey-green, slightly paler and more tomentose beneath. The stem leaves are smaller and in two’s and opposite.
The flowering shoots have 2 to 5 whorls (verticillasters) of flower clusters, each having 12 to 20 and they flower in sequence from below over a long period. They are golden-yellow in colour with the upper hooded petal a paler, cream colour.

Naming

Synonym
Phlomis lunariifolia var. russeliana Sims

Distribution

Restricted to Turkey, where it occurs mainly in the north, from Istanbul, east along the Black Sea coast to Rize, and south to Kutahya. It has been found at up to 1,700 m above sea level.

Uses

Turkish sage is cultivated as an ornamental, and holds the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit. It is a good ground cover species, suppressing weeds. Recent laboratory research has been carried out to investigate the antibacterial activity of its essential oils, which show potential for use in the food industry.