LAVENDER

Description

Bush of 30 to 50 cm high; pivoting root and ligneous, non-branched stem at the base with yellowish-grey bark. It’s a basal woody bush that every year sprouts new herbaceous, square, little offspring of some inches high. Leaves are opposite, narrow, lanceolate or linear, deep solid-green, slightly coriaceous, hairy at the beginning becoming glabrous later on. Flowers are displayed lengthwise the stem forming glomerulus at the shoot apex. Each glomerulus has two opposite small floral leaves at the base, rhomboidal and membranous. These glomeruli might be somewhat separated or, on the contrary, being so close to each other that they form a tight spike. The calyx is narrowly tubular of 5 to 6 mm long and 1.5 wide, with thirteen to fifteen raised nerves and five small teeth at the edge. One of these teeth has, in the back, a hood-like appurtenance. The corolla is blue and it is a little larger than the calyx. The four stamens are enclosed inside the tubule of the corolla. Leaves and, especially, the flower apex is very scented. The fruit is an oval-shaped tetraachene with four smooth dark brown seeds. It belongs to the Lamiaceae family (=Labiatae).

It grows in Europe and North Africa limy zones. Its widely cultivated for its use in cosmetic industry. It blooms a little later than true lavender. The violet-blue flowers have a strong camphor-like scent, less pleasant than 

Part used

Flowering tops.

Indications

Internal use

• Nervousness and anxiety.
• Insomnia.
• Appetite stimulant, nervous originated gastrointestinal disorders, abdominal spasms, dyspepsia, aerophagia.
• Other: headaches, asthma, arthritis.

External use

• Hyper thermal baths in cases of nephritic colics.
• Burns and skin lesions.
• > Insect bites.

Bibliography

Buchbauer G, Jirovetz L, Jager W, Dietrich H y Plank C. Aromatherapy: evidence for sedative effects of the essential oil of lavender after inhalation. Z Naturforsch [C]. 1991;46(11-12):1067-72.

Cavanagh HM y Wilkinson JM. Biological activities of lavender essential oil. Phytother Res. 2002;16(4):301-8.

Elhajili M, Baddouri K, Elkabbaj S, Meiouat F y Settaf A. Diuretic activity of the infusion of flowers from Lavandula officinalis. Reprod Nutr Dev. 2001;41(5):393-9.

Guillemain J, Rousseau A, Delaveau P. Neurodepressive effects of the essential oil of Lavandula angustifolia Mill. Ann Pharm Fr. 1989;47(6):337-43.

Hajhashemi V, Ghannadi A y Sharif B. Anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties of the leaf extracts and essential oil of Lavandula angustifolia Mill. J Ethnopharmacol. 2003;89(1):67-71.

Louis M y Kowalski SD. Use of aromatherapy with hospice patients to decrease pain, anxiety, and depression and to promote an increased sense of well-being. Am J Hosp Palliat Care. 2002;19(6):381-6.

Lis-Balchin M y Hart S. Studies on the mode of action of the essential oil of lavender (Lavandula angustifolia P. Miller). Phytother Res. 1999;13(6):540-2.

Moss M, Cook J, Wesnes K y Duckett P. Aromas of rosemary and lavender essential oils differentially affect cognition and mood in healthy adults. Int J Neurosci. 2003;113(1):15-38.

Motomura N, Sakurai A y Yotsuya Y. Reduction of mental stress with lavender odorant. Percept Mot Skills. 2001;93(3):713-8.

Real Farmacopea Española. Suplemento 2001.

Matière Médicale. RR Paris- H. Moyse. Masson 1981.

Plantas Medicinales. El Dioscórides Renovado. Pio Font Quer.

Guía de Campo de las Flores de Europa. Oleg Polunin. Ediciones Omega S.A. Barcelona, 1977.

Plantas Medicinales. Margarita Fernandez y Ana Nieto. Ed Universidad de Navarra.  EUNSA 1982.

Pharmacognosy, Phytochemistry, Medicinal Plants. Jean Bruneton. Lavoisier Publishing.

Plantas Medicinales.  Thérapeutique-Toxicité. Christiane Vigneau.  Masson,  Paris 1985.

Plantes Médicinales des Régions Tempérées. L.Bézanger-Beauquene. Pinkas, Torck, Trotin. Maloine S.A. Editeur Paris 1980.

Plantas medicinales y aromáticas. Estudio, cultivo y procesado. Fernando Muñoz. Ediciones Mundi-Prensa 1993.