Salvia miltiorrhiza leaf as a tea/spice?

[Auxin]

So last year I was studying S. miltiorrhiza and S. przewalskii ('sha-vahl-ski-eye', that took me an hour to figure out).

To summarize their pharmacognostic utility, the root is a tonic that improves peripheral and coronary circulation and works to slow or reverse cardiovascular disease. Theyve got two groups of goodies, Tashinones (lipophilic) and the Salvianolic acids (hydrophilic). The tashinones do some of the circulation improving stuff and the salvianolic acids are nifty antioxidants that reduce LDL oxidizability and similar antioxidant stuff.

Now, traditionally its only the root thats used but I like to squeeze plants for all their worth so I also researched the leaves. They lack the tashinones but have the salvianolic acids in fair quantity. I couldnt find a trace of evidence that anyone had ever ate or drank the leaf, just speculations that the leaf 'waste' could be refined into drugs. But theyre Salvias so I figured I wouldnt die from a tea, it just might taste bad, and I went ahead and planted some S. miltiorrhiza seeds.

So, yeah, now the point. The tea was good! Like seriously, it smelled and tasted like a broadleaf spice sage variety of some kind.

A fairly well known medicinal herb whos foliage could be expected to at least be edible, and is related to spice and tea herbs, and apparently no one in history had ever tried it. I got suspicious and dug up a plant, and I'll be damned, it had the unusual red taproots of S. miltiorrhiza and S. przewalskii. I guess I got an authentic batch of seeds.

Has anyone else tried it?

If you have a plant rub a leaf, if it smells like sage give it a go. It mixes well with dried lemon balm for an unsweetened tea or will make a cuppa coffee all masculine and stuff.

[gwalchgwyn]

Right On, Auxin!

I've been growing S. miltiorrhiza for some years now & have not tried the leaf tea. Will. Love the purple flowers, the cut foliage, the will to live. In addition to its kindred S. przewalskii, another red-rooted sage, S. hians, has been lauded by Richo.

History... is a nightmare from which I am trying to awaken ~ Joyce