Recently read before the Chemical Society, London. From the Journal of the Society.
LAVENDER AND ITS VARIETIES.
By J. CH. SAWER, F.L.S.
Lavender—technically Lavandula. This name is generally considered to be derived from the word lavando, gerund of the verb lavare, "to wash" or "to bathe," and to originate from the ancient Roman custom of perfuming baths with the flowers of this plant.
The general aspect of the various species which compose this genus of labiate plants, although presenting very characteristic differences, merges gradually from one species to another; all are, in their native habitat, small ligneous undershrubs of from one to two feet in height, with a thin bark, which detaches itself in scales; the leaves are linear, persistent, and covered with numerous hairs, which give the plant a hoary appearance.
The flowers, which are produced on the young shoots, approximate into terminal simple spikes, which are, in vigorous young plants, branched at the base and usually naked under the spikes.
As a rule, lavender is a native of the countries bordering on the great basin of the Mediterranean—at least eight out of twelve species are there found to be indigenous on mountain slopes.
The most commonly known species are L. vera, L. spica and L stæchas. Commercially the L. vera is the most valuable by reason of the superior delicacy of its perfume; it is found on the sterile hills and stony declivities at the foot of the Alps of Provence, the lower Alps of Dauphiné and Cevannes (growing in some places at an altitude of 4,500 feet above the sea level), also northward, in exposed situations, as far as Monton, near Lyons, but not beyond the 46th degree of latitude; in Piedmont as far as Tarantaise, and in Switzerland, in Lower Vallais, near Nyon, in the canton of Vaud, and at Vuilly. It has been gathered between Nice and Cosni, in the neighborhood of Limoné, on the elevated slopes of the mountains of western Liguria, and in Etruria on hills near the sea. The L. spica, which is the only species besides L. vera hardy in this country, was formerly considered only a variety of L. vera; it is distinguished by its lower habit, much whiter color, the leaves more congested at the base of the branches, the spikes denser and shorter, the floral leaves lanceolate or linear, and the presence of linear and subulate bractes.