Lavender

Lavender is a compact evergreen shrub 30 to 90 centimetres tall, with narrow grey-green leaves and dense spikes of small violet-blue flowers on long stems in summer. After flowering, the calyx holds four tiny nutlets, each about 2 millimetres long, smooth, oval and dark brown to black. They are slow to germinate, often taking three to six weeks, and benefit from a cold period before sowing. Seeds themselves have a faint resinous aroma. Seeds are sold in packets for gardeners, and the dried flower buds are sold as culinary lavender. Varieties differ in colour and size, including Hidcote, Munstead and Provence-type lavandins.

True lavender is native to the western Mediterranean, growing wild on dry, sunny, limestone hills in the mountains of southern France, Spain and Italy. Species of Lavandula also grow in the Canary Islands, North Africa, Arabia and India. The name lavender comes from Medieval Latin lavandula, probably related to Latin lavare, to wash, since the Romans scented baths with it, though some writers link it to livere, to be bluish. Lavandula angustifolia means narrow-leaved lavender. Cultivated lavenders and hybrid lavandins have since spread to Bulgaria, England, Australia and northern China, where the plants are grown for oil and for the flower trade.

Egyptians used lavender in perfumes and possibly in mummification, and the Greeks knew it as nardus after the Syrian city of Naarda. Romans scented baths, bedding and laundry with lavender, and Dioscorides recorded its use in medicine. Medieval European monasteries grew it as a strewing herb and household antiseptic, and it was used to freshen rooms and protect linens from moths.

In England, lavender was grown in Mitcham, Surrey, from the seventeenth century and became a major crop for the perfume industry by the eighteenth century. Queen Elizabeth I is said to have favoured lavender conserve, and Queen Victoria used lavender products. In Provence, the cultivation of lavender and lavandin for essential oil grew into a major regional industry in the twentieth century, drawing tourists to the purple fields.

Rene-Maurice Gattefosse, a French chemist, coined the word aromatherapy in 1937, after writing about the use of lavender oil on a burn, and lavender became a symbol of that field. Today, Bulgaria, France, China and the United Kingdom produce lavender oil, and culinary lavender buds appear in herbes de Provence blends, shortbread and teas. Seeds are mostly used to establish new fields and garden plants, though cuttings are used for named varieties.

Dried lavender buds flavour shortbread, scones, ice cream, honey, syrups, lemonade, herbes de Provence, rubs for lamb and poultry, and teas. They should be used sparingly because too much tastes soapy. Seeds may be sown in spring or autumn to raise plants and, in tiny amounts, are included in herbal blends. Essential oil is used in perfumes, soaps, candles and aromatherapy, and dried flower sachets protect clothes. Lavender is also grown for bees, and the honey it yields is prized. Use culinary-grade buds that are free of pesticides and not fragrance-grade product.

Lavender oil has been studied for anxiety, sleep and stress. Some clinical trials of a standardised oral lavender oil preparation, called Silexan, found reduced anxiety symptoms compared with placebo, and inhaled lavender may modestly improve sleep quality, but studies vary in quality. Culinary use of buds supplies little active compound, and seeds have not been studied. Lavender is not a replacement for professional treatment of anxiety or sleep disorders, and oral oil products should be used under guidance.