Black Sage
Pellytaay
‘Iipay Aa name: pellytaay
Common name: black sage
Scientific name: Salvia mellifera
This plant is an excellent source of nectar for bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Birds such as quail and towhees eat the black sage seeds after the plant has bloomed. Woodrats sometimes store the leaves to eat.
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Kumeyaay People use the leaves as a spice and in hot water as a tea. The leaves are also used to relive a cough, swelling, and pain. The seeds can be ground and used for food.
Black sage, or pellytaay in ‘Iipay Aa, is shrub that can grow to about six feet tall and five feet wide. The strong aromatic, oval, dark green, wrinkled leaves are about three inches long. When it blooms in spring and early summer, the flowers are a pale blue-lavender. Black sage is a drought tolerant plant. Its leaves curl up to conserve water.
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