The Herbarium
Print plate
Rosemary botanical plate

Herb. No. 045 · Lamiaceae

RangeFig. atlas
Approximate native range — a teaching atlas, not a survey

Western Mediterranean cliffs and maquis. A sun-belt kitchen shrub worldwide.

Native · Mediterranean

Native Also grownNow a garden plant worldwide
LegalGentleplant

Rosemary

Salvia rosmarinus

Medicinal herbsKitchenHarvestCompanions

A resinous Mediterranean shrub for memory, circulation, and roast potatoes.

Now classified in Salvia, rosemary is a kitchen evergreen whose cineole-rich oil is a traditional brain and circulation herb. Culinary amounts are the safest daily form. The essential oil is concentrated and not a beverage.

Flavor

Pine, camphor, and lemon peel — a resinous heat that lingers.

Parts used

Leaf · Flowering tips

Helpful

  • Everyday food medicine
  • Drought-proof once established

Cautions

  • Essential oil is epileptogenic in excess
  • Can aggravate reflux

Field assistant

Ask about traditional use, safety, or the law. The assistant will not teach illegal cultivation or give medical orders.

Related symptoms

brain fogpoor circulationindigestion

Teas with this plant

Remedies with this plant

  • Lion’s mane and tulsi week

    Adult: a culinary portion of lion’s mane (about a cup cooked) several times a week. Tulsi: one 8 oz cup in the afternoon. Rosemary: kitchen leaf, not the bottle of oil.

Harvest this plant

When to cut, how to dry, and how to store it — garden and kitchen crops only.

Open harvest notes

Companion planting

13 to plant with · 1 to keep apart.

Open companion beds