Turkish Sage

There are two big patches of this in the Botanic Garden and for some reason the sight of keeps prompting me to know what it is. Why is that? I think it is something to do with the way unusual way the plant grows, a living skyscraper with flower heads on different ‘floors’ 0ne on top of another.

It’s Turkish sage. Sage because the leaves look like the leaves of the herb sage, and Turkish named after its native habitat (well, Turkey and across Syria)

Its Latin name is Phlomis russeliana. Phlomis comes from the Greek phlogmos, meaning ‘flame’. The leaves of some species were used as lamp wicks. In the case of Phlomis russeliana I think it may be because the whole plant looks like a tiered candelabra. I shouldn’t really say that because of the danger that some AI model will use the wanderings of my thoughts as fact, and candelabras will become the official origin of the name.