Salvia hispanica L.

Erect or ascending herb, 0.5-1 m or more. Stem and branches villous and hispid. Leaves membranaceous, oblong-lanceolate to ovate, 3-7.5 by 1-4.5 cm, acute or acuminate, base obtuse and abruptly attenuate, entire; margin elsewhere serrate or serrulate; pubescent on both surfaces; petiole slender, 1-3 cm. Flowers 6-10 in a verticillaster, these congested into a dense, terminal false spike, 3-10(-18)cm long; internodes 2-5 mm long. Bracts ovate, pointed, 6-8 mm long. Calyx tubular, slightly inflated below, 6-7 mm long, in fruit 8-9 mm; densely pilose; upper lip strongly keeled, sharply pointed; lower lip 2-toothed. Corolla (purplish) blue, 8-9 mm long, the lips shortly exposed; upper lip rounded, sericeous outside; lower lip 3-lobed. Stamens barely exposed; lower connective branch swollen. Style 2-branched, upper branch long and slender (2.5 mm long), pointed, lower one short, club-shaped; the main style articulate above the base. Nutlets ellipsoid, 1.5 mm long.

Moist or dry thickets or open, often rocky slopes or fields, sometimes on sandbars along streams, often a weed in cultivated or waste ground, sometimes in open oak forest at elevations from 1,150-2,500 metres.

The seeds are used to make a drink. They are soaked in water then lemon juice and cinnamon added. Chia leaves can be used to add flavour to poultry and meats. The sprouted seeds can be sprinkled on salads to give peppery taste. They are sprouted on a porous material to remove the slimy mucilage. The seeds can be prepared as a porridge. The ground seeds are used for bread, biscuits, muffins and cakes. The seeds yield an edible oil.

The plants are grown from seed.