Salvia nemorosaL.

Woodland sage

WFO wfo-0000301687 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Salvia nemorosa, photographed by Yann Kemper
fig. a Yann Kemper, CC0 1.0 / 2022-06-06 / obs. 203954987
Salvia nemorosa, photographed by Vladimír Fuka
fig. b Vladimír Fuka, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 204701904
Salvia nemorosa, photographed by Vladimír Fuka
fig. c Vladimír Fuka, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 202275011
Salvia nemorosa, photographed by Zoltán Stekkelpak
fig. d Zoltán Stekkelpak, CC0 1.0 / obs. 199069079
Salvia nemorosa, photographed by Patrick Hacker
fig. e Patrick Hacker, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 195159234
Salvia nemorosa, photographed by Pavel Kacl
fig. f Pavel Kacl, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 164008986
Salvia nemorosa, photographed by Galyna Mykytynets
fig. g Galyna Mykytynets, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 170565035
Salvia nemorosa, photographed by Galyna Mykytynets
fig. h Galyna Mykytynets, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 172680278

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 28 botanical countries

Regions where Salvia nemorosa is native: Afghanistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, North Caucasus, Tadzhikistan, Transcaucasus, Uzbekistan, West Siberia, Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Central European Russia, Czechia-Slovakia, East European Russia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Krym, Northwest European Russia, NW. Balkan Pen., Poland, Romania, South European Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine AfghanistanIranKazakhstanNorth CaucasusTadzhikistanTranscaucasusUzbekistanWest SiberiaAlbaniaAustriaBulgariaCentral European RussiaCzechia-SlovakiaEast European RussiaFranceGermanyGreeceHungaryItalyKrymNorthwest European RussiaNW. Balkan Pen.PolandRomaniaSouth European RussiaSpainSwitzerlandUkraine
Native distribution of Salvia nemorosa, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Albania ALB EUROPE
Austria AUT
Bulgaria BUL
Central European Russia RUC
Czechia-Slovakia CZE
East European Russia RUE
France FRA
Germany GER
Greece GRC
Hungary HUN
Italy ITA
Krym KRY
Northwest European Russia RUW
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Poland POL
Romania ROM
South European Russia RUS
Spain SPA
Switzerland SWI
Ukraine UKR
Afghanistan AFG ASIA-TEMPERATE
Iran IRN
Kazakhstan KAZ
North Caucasus NCS
Tadzhikistan TZK
Transcaucasus TCS
Uzbekistan UZB
West Siberia WSB

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 14 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Salvia aprica Schur
  • Salvia collina Schur
  • Salvia illuminata Klokov
  • Salvia jailicola Klokov
  • Salvia moldavica Klokov
  • Salvia nemorosa subsp. tesquicola (Klokov & Pobed.) Soó
  • Salvia nemorosa var. latifolia K.Koch
  • Salvia pseudosilvestris Stapf
  • Salvia sylvestris subsp. cernua Des.-Shost.
  • Salvia sylvestris subsp. tesquicola (Klokov & Pobed.) Soják
  • Salvia sylvestris var. nemorosa (L.) Nyman
  • Salvia tesquicola Klokov & Pobed.
  • Sclarea nemorosa (L.) Mill.
  • Sclarea punctata Moench

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.