Long-Leaved Sage

Photo: Smithsonian

Meriwether Lewis collected at least 11 specimens of five different varieties of sage. This is the one he collected and sent back to President Jefferson on the keelboat.

Long-Leaved Sage (Artemisia longifolia) and is common throughout the plains states of the U.S. and Canada. A member of the daisy family, long-leaved sage is a perennial that grows up to 32 inches tall, with longer, narrower leaves that can grow up to five inches long.

Sage was a very important plant to the Plains Indians and was used in many ways, from ceremonial to medicinal.

Lewis’s specimens have all been remounted on new backings and are sometimes combined on the sheet with specimens from other collectors. This example is a part of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.