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- 1/3 g. Sacred White Sage seeds, Salvia apiana, USA
1/3 g. Sacred White Sage seeds, Salvia apiana, USA
Salvia apiana (AKA white sage, bee sage, or sacred sage) is an evergreen perennial shrub native to southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. White sage is found naturally in the coastal sandy desert habitats of Southern California and Baja California, and on the western edges of the Mojave and Sonoran deserts and at altitude in the dry areas of the high Sierras.. Some consider it a threatened species.
S. apiana has been widely used and highly revered by Native Americans on the Pacific coast of the United States for many centuries for food, medicinal and ceremonial value. Sage seed was a main ingredient of pinole, a staple food of Native Americans. The Cahuilla harvested large quantities of the seed that was mixed with wheat flour and sugar for gruel or biscuits. A tea from the roots was used by the Cahuilla women for healing and strength after childbirth. The leaves and stems were eaten by the Chumash and other tribes. Several tribes used the seed for removing foreign objects from the eye. The dried leaves are also burnt by many native American tribes, with the smoke used in different purification rituals. Many others also burn white sage for spiritual cleansing and to purge evil spirits.
Scarify seeds on fine grit sandpaper, sow seeds in very sandy soil, barely cover, tamp well, keep warm and in strong light and water only once daily until germination. Cut the leafy wands in the fall, semi-dry them, then tie into bundles for use during the winter. Cut back in fall.
Full sun. Sandy soil. Drought tolerant. Bee friendly. One gram is about 350-450 seeds.
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