Lavandula
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| Exposure: | ☼ | ?"?" is not in the list (sun, part-sun, shade, unknown) of allowed values for the "Exposure" property. |
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| Water: | ◍ | ?"?" is not in the list (wet, moist, moderate, dry, less when dormant) of allowed values for the "Water" property. |
Read about Lavandula in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture
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Lavandula (Latin, lavo, to wash; referring to the use of lavender in the bath). Labiatae. This group includes the lavender (L. vera), an ancient garden favorite because of its pleasant odor. Perennial herbs, subshrubs or shrubs: leaves commonly crowded at the base, pinnatifid or dissected: whorls 2-10-fld., crowded into long-peduncled cylindrical spikes, which are unbranched or branched from the base; flowers blue, violet or lilac; calyx tubular, 13-15-striated, 5-toothed; corolla-lobes nearly equal, or the posterior lip 2-cut, the anterior 3-cut; stamens 4, didynamous, declined, included in the tube; style shortly 2-cut at the apex.—Species upward of 20, Canary Isls. to India. In the N., winter protection should be provided for lavender. The plants of this genus grow naturally in dry and hilly wastes, except L. multifida which is found growing in peat. Cultivation of lavender. (M. G. Kains.) In the eastern United States, lavender is grown in but few gardens, but in California, where climatic and soil conditions seem favorable, it is more commonly planted, although not on a commercial scale. The dry soil of that state and the light limestone soil of the Black Belt of Alabama and adjacent states seem to be most inviting to this industry. The generic name is derived from the ancient use of its flowers and leaves in bath perfumery. The flowers long retain their strong fragrant odor after drying, and upon distillation yield a lemon-yellow very fluid oil of aromatic, bitterish, burning taste. Though this is offi- cinally credited with stimulant and tonic properties, it is seldom administered in the pure state. Its chief uses are in the manufacture of perfumery, aromatic vinegar and lavender water, an alcoholic solution of the oil and other odorous substances. For these purposes, English oil has long commanded the highest price, but recently the Frencn product has been claimed superior. Though all parts of the plant are aromatic, and both leaves and flower-stems are used in oil manufacture, oil obtained in the first half hour of distillation from flowers alone is much superior to the later distillate and also to the oil obtained from a mixture of flowers and stems. These grades, and also the highly valued product of very dry seasons, are always sold separately. Lavender is best propagated by cuttings of one season's growth taken with a heel of older wood, in late autumn or early spring. When set 3 to 4 inches asunder in rather moist soil and shaded, they strike more readily and produce more symmetrical plants than older wood. Seed does not propagate desired varieties, and division is not advised, since plants so obtained are more susceptible to disease than those made from young-wood cuttings. After danger of frost, the one-year-old plants are set 4 feet asunder in rows 6 feet apart, running north and south. Closer planting and the hedge-method yield a smaller quantity of bloom. Dry, light, calcareous, even stony soils upon sites where sun and air are unimpeded by trees, favor this plant. Upon such fewer are injured by frost, and the oil is of superior quality. In moist soil so much water enters the plant as to enfeeble it, and upon rich lands yield and quality both suffer. Light fertilizing with stable-manure or ashes turned under in autumn, and spring harrowing, are advised. During the first year in the field the plants should be clipped to prevent flowering and to encourage stockiness. Vigorous plants so treated may grow to a height and a diameter of 5 feet, and when two to four years old produce secondary bloom-spikes after the general harvest, which usually occurs in early August. Plantations should be destroyed when four to six years old and the land rested with other crops before setting to lavender again. Cutting in clear weather, in early blossom, before the dew is off and at once distilling give best results; but no delay should occur. Cutting in wet weather, in the heat of the day, holding blossoms long before distilling and exposing them to the sun after cutting result in serious losses. One pound of flowers yields from one-half to one drachm of oil, and an acre from two to twenty-five pounds. The annual output of the stills of Grasse, France, is from 80,000 to 100,000 kilogrammes. "Oil of spike," obtained from a broad-leaved, much whiter and smaller species (L. Spica), is less fragrant than true lavender oil, being analogous to oil of turpentine, with which it is often adulterated. It suggests the odor of rancid coconut oil. Officinally, it is credited with carminative and stimulant properties, and has been found useful in nervous languor and headache. It is used by artists in the manufacture of varnishes, by porcelain painters, and to a small extent in perfumery, mainly as an adulterant. From 20,000 to 25,000 kilogrammes are annually produced at Grasse. See also "Culinary Herbs" by M. G. Kains, 1912. CH
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References
- Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963
External links
- w:Lavandula. Some of the material on this page may be from Wikipedia, under the Creative Commons license.
- Lavandula QR Code (Size 50, 100, 200, 500)
