Lavender
(Lavandula angustifolia Mill. Lavender, Lavandu lalatifolia (L.) Vill. Spike Lavender, Labiatae)
Also Called: Lavandula Vera.
The name lavender comes from the Latin lovare, to wash, and the herb has been used to scent baths and toiletries since Roman times.
Description: The two species of lavender
are small shrubs up to 70cm (28in) high.
The stems are thick and woody, and become straggly if left unpruned.
There are also dwarf forms for edging which reach only about 10 inches.
The green shoots are square.
Leaves lanceolate, long, spiky, and very narrow, silver-grey, hairy, revolute
and branch out near the ground.
In L. latifolia the leaves are 4-6 times longer than broad; in
L. angustifolia they are 8 times longer than broad.
The tiny tubular flowers are carried on long spikes in thick clusters that
surround the stem from the tip to about 4 inches down
Flowering: June-September, a little later for L. latifolia.
L. angustifolia has the finer odour.
Part Used: Dried flowers, freed from stalks.
The volatile oil is prepared from the flowering shoots, often including leaves.
Habitat and Cultivation: Lavender is found wild only in
the Mediterranean region but is cultivated widely in gardens throughout the
warm temperate regions of Europe, including Britain, and is also found as
an escape from cultivation.
Commercial cultivation is from seed sown in seedbeds, followed by planting
out at intervals of 50cm (20in), The flowers are dried in the shade at less
than 35 C 95'-F).
Constituents and Action: Lavender flowers contain volatile
oil and tannin.
analgesic, anti-bacterial, anti-depressant, antispasmodic, carminative,
bile stimulant, circulatory stimulant, relaxant, tonic for the nervous system.
Sedative
to the central nervous system and to the respiratory tract.
They are mildly diuretic and are carminative, acting on the intestine,
they relieve flatulence.
Externally the volatile oil is rubefacient to the skin.
Useful for digestive upsets, nervous tension, insomnia, migraines and headaches.
The flowers can be made into a pleasant tasting tea taken at night for sleeplessness
or during the day for headaches and nervous tension.
Dried flowers and seeds are used in herbal sleep pillows and baths for soothing
and calming frayed nerves.
Can be used as a cough suppressant and for flatulence or diarrhoea,
also as a diuretic (more active drugs may be used for this purpose).
Externally it is used in the form of spirit of lavender in liniments for rheumatism
or as an infusion for an application to wounds.
Use an infusion of lavender on insect bites.
Dioscorides, writing in the second century AD, recommended lavender for "griefs
in the thorax", although the plant used by the Greeks was probably L.
stoechas, generally known today as French lavender and rather less hardy
than the familiar English variety.
In Arabic medicine this tradition of using
lavender for chest problems has continued and it is still used in the Middle
East as an expectorant.
Described by herbalists as "cooling", it is best suited to ease those sorts of headaches that are soothed by cold packs rather than those comforted by a warm compress.
Usage: As a tisane (usually in mixtures of drugs) as sedative,
carminative and very mild soporific.
Three flowerheads in a cup of boiling water makes a soothing tea at bedtime.
The essential oil is steam-distilled
from the flowers and is used in aromatherapy for muscular aches, pains and
headaches (add 1 ml lavender oil to 20 ml of sunflower oil and massage into painful areas).
A few drops of lavender
oil can also be added to creams for eczema or diluted in water to make a
soothing lotion for sunburn and minor scalds.
In massage oils it can be helpful for muscular aches and pains, strains and
some rheumatic problems.
Added to bath water, lavender
oil is relaxing and soothing for nervous tensions and insomnia.
Culinary uses:
Fresh lavender flowers can be used to flavour syrup for jellies.
Mix 6 flowerheads into each pint of apple jelly syrup.
Remove the lavender before bottling.
It is also used to flavour fruit salad and milk and cream for deserts.
Flowers be candied to decorate cakes and puddings. Use lavender instead of
rosemary when cooking chicken.
Lavender ice-cream is a real treat.
Other Uses: Bunches of lavender are said to ward off insects.
Fresh or dried flowers are used in rinsing water for clothes and hair.
Dried flowers and seeds are often used in potpourri and sachets.
The stems are used to weave decorative baskets.
Since the Middle Ages, the dried flowers have been one of the main ingredients
of potpourri.
Fresh sprigs are included in herbal bunches known as tussie mussies, which
have been used for hundreds of years to mask unpleasant odors and ward off
illness.
To dry the flowers, cut them as soon as they begin to open and hang upside
down in bunches in a well-ventilated area.
Easy Lavender Soap
10 tablespoons finely grated castille soap
8 tablespoons boiling water
2 tablespoons crushed dried lavender flowers
4 drops lavender oil
Melt the soap in the water in a bowl placed over a saucepan of hot water,
stirring frequently, until smooth.
Crush the flowers to a powder and take the bowl off the saucepan. Stir the
flowers into the soap with oil.
Store in a glass or plastic bottle.
Cultivation: Lavender is a traditional cottage garden plant.
Its gray-green spikes of foliage and purple flowers provide colour all year.
Cuttings from strong new growth can be propagated in summer or autumn or from seeds sown indoors in trays. Once rooted, plant them in a well drained, poor soil. Foliage will yellow in poorly drained soil.
The bushes tend to look after themselves and respond to an annual pruning in fall after flowering or in early spring.
Bushes tend to straggle as they mature and it is often necessary to cut back severely in fall to generate strong growth.
