White sage (Salvia apiana), also known as bee sage or sacred sage, is an evergreen perennial shrub native to the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, particularly the coastal sage scrub habitats of Southern California and Baja California, along the western edges of the Mojave and Sonoran deserts. It typically grows 1.3 to 1.5 metres tall, with whitish-green, evergreen leaves densely covered in fine hairs that hold aromatic oils — an adaptation to the aridity of its habitat. In spring, several flower stalks, sometimes pinkish, rise above the foliage bearing white to pale lavender flowers that strongly attract bees — hence the species name "apiana." With over 800 species worldwide, the genus Salvia as a whole is exceptionally species-rich; many were burned or otherwise used as medicinal plants even before antiquity.

For numerous Indigenous peoples of California, white sage has been a sacred plant for generations, known by its own name in each language — qaashil (Luiseño), shlhtaay (Kumeyaay), kasiile (Tongva), we'wey (Chumash), and qas'ily (Cahuilla), among others. Its seeds were a main ingredient of pinole, a traditional staple food; the Cahuilla harvested large quantities, mixing them with wheat flour and sugar for gruel or biscuits, while the Chumash and other tribes also ate the leaves and stems, and Cahuilla women brewed a root tea for strength after childbirth. The Ancestral Puebloan (Anasazi) culture of Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico likewise used the plant to cleanse body and spirit, for instance in sweat lodge ceremonies. The leaves continue to be burned by many Indigenous peoples today in purification ceremonies and spiritual practice. In recent decades, however, growing commercial demand has led to overharvesting of wild populations, prompting many Indigenous communities and conservationists to explicitly ask that only cultivated — not wild-harvested — plants be used, and that the plant be treated with respect.

The dried leaves are traditionally bundled into smudge sticks and burned, releasing a strongly aromatic, herbaceous, camphor-like scent with a faint sweetness. Its smoke is believed to have cleansing properties, clearing negative energy from a space and promoting mental clarity and relaxation — a practice still known today as smudging. It should be distinguished from common sage (Salvia officinalis), introduced by monks and cultivated in European monastery gardens during the Middle Ages, known on this side of the Atlantic chiefly as a culinary herb and remedy.