Lavender |
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Lavender- There are several species of lavender, producing different types of lavender oil through steam-distillation of the freshly cut flowers and stalks, and they are grown on a considerable scale to meet the huge demands of the perfume industry. The main species are:
1. Old English Lavender (also called English Lavender) {Lavandula vera = L. officinalis = L. augustifolia), which has the finest aroma. A bush some 3-5 feet high, it grows best in Britain, where it was once cultivated intensively in Surrey (providing Mitcham Lavender Oil) and is still produced in large quantity elsewhere, including Norfolk, where Yardley still have large lavender estates. Other principal areas of cultivation are Tasmania and the south of France. Examples of quality fragrances which contain Old English Lavender are 'Blue Grass', 'Paco Rabanne' and 'Silvestre'. 2. Two sub-species of L. vera, named botanically L. delphinensis (Lavender of Dauphine) and L. fragrans, are cultivated in the south ol France, providing what is called French Lavender. 3. Spike Lavender (L. svica = L. latifolia) a coarser variety native to mountainous areas in the Mediterranean region. Also called Lesser Lavender, Broad-leaved Lavender or Nardus Italica, this is grown in France, Spain and Yugoslavia and provides Oil of Spike (Essence d'Aspice), sometimes called Spike Lavender Oil. The quality of this oil, which has a campihorous odour, is inferior but the yield from the plant is three times that of I. vera; it is used in men's fragrances, low-grade lavender perfumes and soaps. This lavender was mentioned by Theophrastus and some authorities believe that it was the Spikenard of the Old Testament; 4. French Lavender (L.. stoechas = Stoechas offichmrum), also called Stoechas, Arabian Stoechas, Stichados, Stickadore, Cassidony and Candy Rosemary. A small, attractive-looking plant plentiful in France, Spain and Portugal, it provides Stoechas Oil, distilled in Spain, which has a camphorous odour more like rosemary than lavender and is used1 medicinally as well as in perfumes and soaps; 5. Bastard Lavender, a hybrid lavender crossed between L. spka and L. fragrans. This is grown in France for an oil with a slightly camphorous fragrance known as Lavandin, mainly used in soaps but found also in some modern perfumes (e.g. 'You're the Fire'). The dried stems of flowers and leaves from all these lavenders are used in sachets and pot pourri and have for long been placed among linen and clothes to scent them. Lavender has been a favorite perfume material since the time of the Greeks and Romans. The Romans made much use of it (particularly of Stoechas) in their bath water, and the name 'Lavender' may derive from the Latin lavare — to wash. From medieval times it was used not only in pot pourri and sachets and for scenting linen and clothes but also to strew on the floors of churches and houses. In Tudor times it was also used in Britain to stuff quilted jackets and caps. Until 1906 lavender oil was extracted by water-distillation, but in that year a more efficient technique of dry steam-distillation was introduced. An acre of ground will grow about 3500 plants of English Lavender, yielding around 151b of oil. Total world production is enormous, with the south of France alone at one time processing nearly 5000 tons of lavender flowers every year. The oil has for long also been valued medicinally because of its antiseptic and antibiotic properties, and it is highly valued in aromatherapy.
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