Coastal Sage

 Coastal sage (Artemisia californica), Escondido, CA

So we had black and white sage on this site. There is another plant known as coastal sage, purple sage or sagebrush. In spite of its name "sage" this is not a true sage (salvia). It's a very popular plant, it grows pretty much everywhere.

The plant in the above pictures is Artemisia californica and it is not part of the mint (Lamiaceae) family but aster  (Asteraceae). Like salvias it has a nice smell especially it you crush a leaf between your fingers. This plant can be also used to spice up a dish.