vervain sage

9.9

A plant with blue flowers and leaves like verbena

noun

: salvia verbena

The leaves of vervain sage resemble those of verbena, making it easy to identify.

Examples

In some parts of the United States, vervain sage has become naturalized and grows wild.
Vervain sage is often grown in gardens for its attractive blue flowers.
Look at the vervain sage!
The vervain sage blooms beautifully.
Vervain sage is often grown in gardens for its attractive blue flowers.
In some parts of the United States, vervain sage has become naturalized and grows wild.
The leaves of vervain sage resemble those of verbena, making it easy to identify.

Synonyms

Salvia verbenaca

vsvervain sage

Specialized

9.9

A sage plant from Europe and Asia with blue flowers and verbena-like leaves

has identical meaning but uses the common everyday name instead of the scientific name

wild clary

vsvervain sage

9.9

A plant with blue flowers often grown or found in fields and gardens and used as an herb

is the formal species reference using the scientific name rather than the casual label

Surface Forms

vervain sage singular

vervain sages plural

Morphology

vervain + sage

The meaning 'a species of sage with verbena-like foliage' is directly and compositionally built from 'vervain' (plants like verbena) + 'sage' (the herb), so the compound denotes a sage that has vervain-like characteristics. Plant-name compounds of this form are a common, transparent noun-modifier pattern and a B1 learner who knows both constituents would likely infer the intended meaning.

Etymology

Vervain sage comes from two simple ideas: vervain because its leaves look like the 'verbena' plant and sage because it is a type of sage. So the name helps you remember it is a sage with 'vervain-like' leaves and pretty blue flowers.