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LAVENDER
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LAVENDER , botanically Lavandula, a genus of the natural See also:order See also:Labiatae distinguished by an ovate tubular calyx, a two-lipped corolla, of which the upper See also:lip has two and the See also:lower three lobes, and four stamens See also:bent downwards. The plant to which the name of lavender is commonly applied, Lavandula See also:vera, is a native of the mountainous districts of the countries bordering on the western See also:half of the Mediterranean, extending from the eastern See also:coast of See also:Spain to See also:Calabria and See also:northern See also:Africa, growing in some places at a height of 4500 ft. above the See also:sea-level, and preferring stony declivities in open sunny situations. It is cultivated in the open See also:air as far See also:north as See also:Norway and See also:Livonia. Lavender forms an See also:evergreen under-See also:shrub about 2 ft. high, with greyish-See also:green hoary linear leaves, rolled under at the edges when See also:young;, the branches are erect and give a bushy See also:appearance to the plant. The See also:flowers are See also:borne on a terminal spike at the See also:summit of a See also:long naked stalk, the spike being composed of 6–10 dense clusters in the axils of small, brownish, rhomboidal, tapering, opposite bracts, the clusters being more widely separated towards the See also:base of the spike. The calyx is tubular, contracted towards the mouth, marked with 13 ribs and 5-toothed, the posterior tooth being the largest. The corolla is of a See also:pale See also:violet See also:colour, but darker on its inner See also:surface, tubular, two-lipped, the upper lip with two and the lower with three lobes. Both corolla and calyx are covered with stellate hairs, amongst which are imbedded shining oil glands to which the fragrance of the plant is due. The leaves and flowers of lavender are said to have been used by the ancients to perfume their See also:baths; hence the Med. See also:Lat. name Lavandula or Lavandula is supposed to have been derived from lavare, to See also:wash. This derivation is considered doubtful and a connexion has been suggested with Lat. livere, to be of a bluish, pale or livid colour. Although L. Stoechas was well known to the ancients, no allusion unquestionably referring to L. vera has been found in the writings of classical authors, the earliest mention of the latter plant being in the 12th See also:century by the See also:abbess See also:Hildegard, who lived near See also:Bingen on the See also:Rhine. Under the name of llafant or liefantly it was known to the Welsh physicians as a See also:medicine in the 13th century. The dried flowers have long been used in See also:England, the See also:United States and other countries for perfuming See also:linen, and the characteristic cry of " Lavender! sweet lavender!" was still to be heard in See also:London streets at the beginning of the loth century. In England lavender is cultivated chiefly for the See also:distillation of its essential oil, of which it yields on an See also:average when freed from the stalks, but in the See also:south of See also:Europe the flowers See also:form an See also:object of See also:trade, being exported to the See also:Barbary states, See also:Turkey and See also:America.
publish his views on these subjects. In 1859 some articles by him in he Revue See also:des deux mondes laid the See also:foundation of his reputation as an economist. In 1864 he was elected to the See also:chair of See also:political See also:economy at the See also:state university of See also:Liege. Here he wrote his most important See also:works: La Russie et l'Autriche depuis See also:Sadowa (1870), Essai sur See also:les formes de gouvernement daps les societes raodernes (1872), Des Causes actuelles de guerre en Europe et de l'See also:arbitrage and De la propriete et de ses formes primitives (1874), dedicated to the memory of See also: He was especially attracted to England, where he thought he saw many of his ideals of social, political and religious progress realized. He was a frequent contributor to the See also:English See also:newspapers and leading reviews. The most widely circulated of his works was a pamphlet on Le Perti clerical en Belgique, of which 2,000,000 copies were circulated in ten See also:languages. Lavender (Lavandula vera). 1. See also:Flower, See also:side view. 2. Flower, front view. 3. Calyx opened and spread See also:flat. 4. Corolla opened and spread flat. 5. See also:Pistil. In See also:Great See also:Britain lavender is grown in the parishes of See also:Mitcham, Carshalton and Beddington in See also:Surrey, and in See also:Hertfordshire in the See also:parish of See also:Hitchin. The most suitable See also:soil seems to be a sandy See also:loam with a calcareous substratum, and the most favourable position a sunny slope in localities elevated above the level of fogs, where the plant is not in danger of See also:early See also:frost and is freely exposed to air and See also:light. At Hitchin lavender is said to have been grown as early as 1568, but as a commercial See also:speculation its cultivation See also:dates back only to 1823. The See also:plants at See also:present in cultivation do not produce See also:seed, and the See also:propagation is always made by slips or by dividing the roots. The latter See also:plan has only been followed since 1860, when a large number of lavender plants were killed by a severe frost. Since that date the plants have been subject to the attack of a fungus, in consequence of which the See also:price of the oil has been considerably enhanced. The flowers are collected in the beginning of See also:August, and taken See also:direct to the still. The yield of oil depends in great measure upon the See also:weather. After a wet and dull See also:June and See also:July the yield is some-times only half as much as when the weather has been See also:bright and sunshiny. From 12 to 30 lb of oil per See also:acre is the average amount obtained. The oil contained in the See also:stem has a more See also:rank odour and is less volatile than that of the flowers; consequently the portion that distils over after the first See also:hour and a half is collected separately. The finest oil is obtained by the distillation of the flowers, without the stalks, but the labour spent upon this adds about 1os. per lb to the expense of the oil, and the same end is practically attained by fractional distillation. The oil mellows by keeping three years, after which it deteriorates unless mixed with See also:alcohol; it is also improved by redistillation. Oil of lavender is distilled from the See also:wild plants in See also:Piedmont and the South of See also:France, especially in the villages about Mont Ventoux near See also:Avignon, and in those some leagues See also:west of See also:Montpellier. The best See also:French oil realizes scarcely one-See also:sixth. of the price of the English oil. Cheaper varieties are made by distilling the entire plant. Oil of lavender is a See also:mobile liquid having a specific gravity from 0.85 to 0.89. Its See also:chief constituents are linalool acetate, which also occurs in oil of See also:bergamot, and linalool, CiollnOI1, an alcohol derived by oxidation from myrcene, CioH,s, which is one of the See also:terpenes. The dose is a-3 minims. The See also:British pharmacopeia contains a spiritus lavandulae, dose 5-20 minims: and a See also:compound See also:tincture, dose 1-1 drachm. This is contained in liquor arsenicalis, and its characteristic odour may thus be of great See also:practical importance, medico-legally and otherwise. The See also:pharmacology of oil of lavender is simply that of an exceptionally pleasant and mild volatile oil. It is largely used as a carminative and as a colouring and flavouring See also:agent. Its See also:adulteration with alcohol may be detected by chloride of See also:calcium dissolving in it and forming a See also:separate layer of liquid at the bottom of the See also:vessel. Glycerine acts in the same way. If it contain See also:turpentine it will not dissolve in three volumes of alcohol, in which quantity the pure oil is perfectly soluble. Lavender flowers were formerly considered See also:good for " all disorders of the See also:head and nerves "; a spirit prepared with them was known under the name of palsy drops. Lavender See also:water consists of a See also:solution of the volatile oil in spirit of See also:wine with the addition of the essences of See also:musk, See also:rose, bergamot and See also:ambergris, but is very rarely prepared by distillation of the flowers with spirit. In the See also:climate of New See also:York lavender is scarcely See also:hardy, but in the vicinity of See also:Philadelphia considerable quantities are grown for the See also:market. In See also:American gardens sweet See also:basil (Ocimum basilicum) is frequently called lavender. Lavandula Spica, a See also:species which differs from L. vera chiefly in its smaller See also:size, more crowded leaves and linear bracts, is also used for the distillation of an essential oil, which is known in England as oil of spike and in France under the name of essence d'See also:aspic. It is used in See also:painting on See also:porcelain and in veterinary medicine. The oil as met with in See also:commerce is less fragrant than that of L. See also:vow--probably because the whole plant is distilled, for the flowers of the two species are scarcely distinguishable in fragrance. L. Spica does not extend so far north, nor ascend the mountains beyond 2000 ft. It cannot be cultivated in Britain except in sheltered situations. A nearly allied species, L. lanata, a native of Spain, with broader leaves, is also very fragrant, but does not appear to be distilled for oil. Lavandula Stoechas, a species extending from the Canaries to See also:Asia See also:Minor, is distinguished from the above plants by its blackish See also:purple flowers, and shortly stalked spikes crowned by conspicuous purplish sterile bracts. The flowers were See also:official in the London See also:pharmacopoeia as See also:late as 1746. They are still used by the See also:Arabs as an expectorant and antispasmodic. The Stoechades (now called the isles of See also:Hyeres near See also:Toulon) owed their name to the abundance of the plant growing there. Other species of lavender are known, some of which extend as far See also:east as to See also:India. A few which differ from the above in having divided leaves, as L. dentata, L. abrotanoides, L. multifolia, L. pinnata and L. viridis, have been cultivated in greenhouses, &c., in England. Sea lavender is a name applied in England to several species of Statice, a genus of littoral plants belonging to the order Plumba gineae. Lavender See also:cotton is a species of the genus Santolina, small, yellow-flowered, evergreen undershrubs of the Composite order. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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