I walk through the Farmers Branch Community Garden, and there is a large lavender plant growing there. There is nothing like the scent of lavender. It is no wonder it is used in so many body creams and lotions. I have seen photographs of the lavender fields in France and have always wanted to visit. They are quite a spectacular sight. A few years ago, I took a trip with the Addison Pacesetters (seniors group) to Lavender Ridge Farms in Gainesville, about an hour from Dallas. There we walked among the blooming lavender, the air pungent with the sweet scent. We also bought bunches of lavender and ate at the café which served lavender ice cream. Delicious! So, lavender evoked four of my five senses — sight, touch, smell and taste. What an extraordinary flower! To learn more about lavender, read on.
According to Wikipedia, Lavandula — common name lavender — is a genus of 47 known species of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae. It is native to the Old World and is found in Cape Verde and the Canary Islands, and from Europe across to northern and eastern Africa, the Mediterranean, southwest Asia to southeast India.
Many members of the genus are cultivated extensively in temperate climates as ornamental plants for garden and landscape use, for use as culinary herbs and also commercially for the extraction of essential oils. The most widely cultivated species — Lavandula angustifolia — is often referred to as lavender, and there is a color named for the shade of the flowers of this species. Despite its use over centuries in traditional medicine and cosmetics, there is no high-quality clinical evidence that lavender has any effects on diseases or improves health.
Description
The genus includes annual or short-lived herbaceous perennial plants, and shrub-like perennials, subshrubs or small shrubs.
Leaf shape is diverse across the genus. They are simple in some commonly cultivated species; in other species, they are pinnately toothed — or pinnate — sometimes multiple pinnate and dissected. In most species the leaves are covered in fine hairs or indumentum, which normally contain the essential oils.
Flowers are borne in whorls, held on spikes rising above the foliage, the spikes being branched in some species. Some species produce colored bracts at the apices. The flowers may be blue, violet or lilac in the wild species, occasionally blackish purple or yellowish. The calyx is tubular. The corolla is also tubular, usually with five lobes — the upper lip often cleft, and the lower lip has two clefts.
Etymology
The English word lavender is generally thought to be derived from Old French lavandre, ultimately from the Latin lavare (to wash), referring to the use of infusions of the plants. The botanic name Lavandula as used by Linnaeus is considered to be derived from this and other European vernacular names for the plants. However, it is suggested that this explanation may be apocryphal, and that the name may be derived from Latin livere, "blueish."
The names widely used for some of the species, "English lavender," "French lavender" and "Spanish lavender" are all imprecisely applied. "English lavender" is commonly used for L. angustifolia, though some references say the proper term is "Old English Lavender." The name "French lavender" may refer to either L. stoechas or to L. dentata. "Spanish lavender" may refer to L. stoechas, L. lanata or L. dentata.
Cultivation
The most common form in cultivation is the common or English lavender Lavandula angustifolia. A wide range of cultivars can be found. Other commonly grown ornamental species are L. stoechas, L. dentata and L. multifida or Egyptian lavender.
Because the cultivated forms are planted in gardens worldwide, they are occasionally found growing wild as garden escapes, well beyond their natural range. Such spontaneous growth is usually harmless, but in some cases Lavandula species have become invasive. For example, in Australia, Lavandula stoechas has become a cause for concern; it occurs widely throughout the continent and has been declared a noxious weed in Victoria since 1920. It is regarded as a weed in parts of Spain.
Lavenders flourish best in dry, well-drained, sandy or gravelly soils in full sun. All types need little or no fertilizer and good air circulation. In areas of high humidity, root rot due to fungus infection can be a problem. Organic mulches can trap moisture around the plants' bases, encouraging root rot. Gravelly materials such as crushed rocks give better results. It grows best in soils with a pH between 6 and 8. Most lavender is hand-harvested, and harvest times vary depending on intended use.
Lavender oil
Lavender oil is an essential oil obtained by distillation from the flower spikes of certain species of lavender. There are over 400 types of lavender species worldwide with different scents and qualities. Two forms are distinguished, lavender flower oil, a colorless oil, insoluble in water, having a density of 0.885 g/mL; and lavender spike oil, a distillate from the herb Lavandula latifolia, having density 0.905 g/mL. Like all essential oils, it is not a pure compound; it is a complex mixture of phytochemicals, including linalool and linayl acetate.
Commercially, the plant is grown mainly for the production of lavender essential oil. English lavender or Lavandula angustifolia yields an oil with sweet overtones and can be used in balms, salves, perfumes, cosmetics and topical applications. Lavandula x intermedia — also known as lavandin or Dutch lavender — yields a similar essential oil, but with higher levels of terpenes including camphor, which add a sharper overtone to the fragrance. The lavandins Lavandula x intermedia are a class of hybrids of L. angustifolia and L. latifolia. The lavandins are widely cultivated for commercial use, since their flowers tend to be bigger than those of English lavender and the plants tend to be easier to harvest, but lavandin oil is regarded by some to be of a lower quality than that of English lavender, with a perfume less sweet.
Pure lavender essential oil is produced through steam distillation. This generates a greater amount of oil compared to other methods due to reduction of polar compound loss. Harvest of lavender blooms are typically around June. Lavender flowers are compacted into a still. Fewer air pockets in the still result in greater oil yield. A boiler is then used to steam the bottom of the lavender flower filled still at a very low pressure. The lavender flower pockets containing oil are broken from this heating process and a pipe of cold water is run through the center of the still. The hot lavender oil vapor condenses on the cold pipe with the cold water and is collected into a holding tank where it is allowed to settle. Due to polarity and densities of the water and oil, these two will separate in the holding tank whereupon the water is piped out, leaving just lavender essential oil.
Lavender oil is produced around the world, with Bulgaria leading the global industry.
Lavender oil has long been used as a perfume, for aromatherapy and for skin applications. Lavender oil is used in massage therapy as a way of inducing relaxation through direct skin contact.
Oil of spike lavender was used as a solvent in oil painting, mainly before the use of distilled turpentine became common.
In rare cases, lavender oil in soaps, shampoos and other skin applied medications may cause prepubertal gynecomastia or breast development in young boys. Other potential adverse effects include a sedative effect and contact dermatitis as an allergic reaction, possibly resulting from major lavender oil constituents camphor, terpinene-4-ol, linalool and liayl acetate.
In Australia lavender oil is one of the many essential oils that have been increasingly causing cases of poisoning, mostly of children. In the period 2014-2018 there were 271 reported cases in New South Wales, accounting for 6.1% of essential oil poisoning incidents.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration considers lavender as generally recognized as safe for human consumption. The essential oil was used in hospitals during World War I.
Some 100 individual phytochemicals have been extracted from lavender oil, including major contents of linayl acetate (30-55%), linalool (20-35%), tannins (5-10%) and caryophyllene (8%), with lesser amounts of sesquiterpenoids, perillyl alcohols, esters, oxides, ketones, cineole, camphor, beta-ocimene, limonene, caproic acid and caryophyllene oxide. The relative amounts of these compounds vary considerably among lavender species.
Culinary use
Culinary lavender is usually English lavender, the most commonly used species in cooking — L. angustifolia “Munstead.” As an aromatic, it has a sweet fragrance with lemon or citrus notes. It is used as a spice or condiment in pastas, salads and dressings and desserts. Its buds and greens are used in teas, and the buds — processed by bees — are the essential ingredient of monofloral honey.
For most cooking applications the dried buds, which are also referred to as flowers, are used. Lavender greens have a more subtle flavor when compared to rosemary.
The potency of the lavender flowers increases with drying which necessitates more sparing use to avoid a heavy, soapy aftertaste. Chefs note to reduce by two-thirds the dry amount in recipes which call for fresh lavender buds.
Lavender buds can amplify both sweet and savory flavors in dishes and are sometimes paired with sheep's milk and goat's milk cheeses. Lavender flowers are occasionally blended with black, green or herbal teas. Lavender flavors baked goods and desserts, pairing especially well with chocolate. In the United States, both lavender syrup and dried lavender buds are used to make lavender scones and marshmallows.
Lavender buds are put into sugar for two weeks to allow the essential oils and fragrance to transfer; then the sugar itself is used in baking. Lavender can be used in breads where recipes call for rosemary. Lavender can be used decoratively in dishes or spirits, or as a decorative and aromatic in a glass of champagne. Lavender is used in savory dishes, giving stews and reduced sauces aromatic flair. It is also used to scent flans, custards and sorbets.
The greens are used similarly to rosemary or combined with rosemary to flavor meat and vegetables in savory dishes. They can also be used to make a tea that is milder than teas made with the flowers.
The flowers yield abundant nectar, from which bees make a high-quality honey. Monofloral honey is produced primarily around the Mediterranean and is marketed worldwide as a premium product. Flowers can be candied and are sometimes used as cake decorations. It is also used to make "lavender sugar."
Other uses
Flower spikes are used for dried flower arrangements. The fragrant, pale purple flowers and flower buds are used in potpourris. Lavender is also used as herbal filler inside sachets used to freshen linens. Dried and sealed in pouches, lavender flowers are placed among stored items of clothing to give a fresh fragrance and to deter moths. Dried lavender flowers may be used for wedding confetti. Lavender is also used in scented waters and sachets.
In history and culture
The ancient Greeks called the lavender herb νάρδος : nárdos, Latinized as nardus, after the Syrian city of Naarda — possibly the modern town of Dohuk, Iraq. It was also commonly called nard. The species originally grown was L.stoechas.
During Roman times, flowers were sold for 100 denarii per pound, which was about the same as a month's wages for a farm laborer or 50 haircuts from the local barber. Its late Latin name was lavandārius, from lavanda (things to be washed), from the verb lavāre (to wash).
Culinary history
Spanish nard, referring to L. stoechas, is listed as an ingredient in making a spiced wine, namely hippocras, in “The Forme of Cury,” an extensive, 14th-century collection of medieval English recipes.
Lavender was introduced into England in the 1600s. It is said that Queen Elizabeth prized a lavender conserve or jam at her table, so lavender was produced as a jam at that time, as well as used in teas both medicinally and for its taste.
Lavender was not used in traditional southern French cooking at the turn of the 20th century. It does not appear at all in the best-known compendium of Provençal cooking, J.-B. Reboul's “Cuisinière Provençale.” French lambs have been allowed to graze on lavender as it is alleged to make their meat more tender and fragrant.
In the 1970s, a blend of herbs called herbes de Provence was invented by spice wholesalers. Culinary lavender is added to the mixture in the North American version.
Today, lavender recipes are in use in most parts of the world.
Research
Despite dozens of preliminary clinical studies on the potential for lavender oil or other lavender plant components to affect human diseases, there are no confirmed anti-disease or health effects as of 2018, mainly due to the poor quality of study design and conduct.
Lavender oil has been studied by preliminary research for its possible effect in alleviating anxiety and sleep disturbances, but no conclusions about the effects on anxiety were possible.
The German scientific committee on traditional medicine, Commission E, reported uses of lavender flower in practices of herbalism, including its use for restlessness or insomnia, Roehmheld’s syndrome, intestinal discomfort and cardiovascular diseases, among others.
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