Salvia rosmarinus, synonym Rosmarinus officinalis, commonly known as rosemary, is a shrub with fragrant, evergreen, needle-like leaves and purple or sometimes white, pink, or blue flowers. It is a member of the mint family, Lamiaceae. The species is native to the Mediterranean region. It has numerous cultivars, and its leaves are commonly used as a flavoring.
Description
thumb|Rosemary leaves
thumb|upright|S. rosmarinus 'Prostratus'
thumb|Cross-section of woody stem of Salvia rosmarinus ([[MHNT)]]
Rosemary has a fibrous root system. It forms an aromatic evergreen shrub with leaves similar to Tsuga needles. Forms range from upright to trailing; The leaves are evergreen, long and broad, green above, and white below, with dense, short, woolly hair. The plant can live as long as 35 years.
Similar species
Salvia jordanii (formerly Rosmarinus eriocalyx) is a closely related species native to Iberia and the Maghreb of Africa.
Taxonomy
thumb|226x226px|Rosemary plant
The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 as Rosmarinus officinalis. In 2017, on the basis of molecular phylogenetic evidence, rosemary was reclassified into Salvia, reviving a name first published in 1835 by Fridolin Karl Leopold Spenner, who had transferred the species to the genus Salvia. The epithet officinalis at that time could not be used because the name Salvia officinalis had already been published, so Spenner used the combination Salvia rosmarinus as a replacement name for the replaced synonym Rosmarinus officinalis. Πιναξ Theatri Botanici, whose second edition was published in 1671.
Etymology
Elizabeth Kent noted in her Flora Domestica (1823), "The botanical name of this plant is compounded of two Latin words [], signifying sea-dew; and indeed rosemary thrives best by the sea." The earliest usage in the classical era of the Latin word orthographically is Columella.