by Elizabeth Shaheen
In the landscape of history, Lavandula has been recorded for over 2,500 years and therefore its history is rich, embracing both folklore and superstition. Commonly known as lavender, the name comes from the Latin, lavare, to wash and livendula, livid or bluish and officinalis, medicinal, hence the binominal nomenclature – Lavandula officinalis.
Lavender was known by the ancient Greeks as Nardus, named after Naarda, a city of Syria. They also called it Nard.
A genus of around 30 species and 200-300 varieties of flowering evergreen shrubs and subshrubs in the mint family Labiate/Lamiaceae, they occur naturally from the Mediterranean region through the Middle East to India.
In the world of cultivated plants, lavender stands alone, for lavender is unique and it is the plant’s swooningly-delicious fragrance which has made it so.
Folklore gainsay allows for us to repeat stories we would otherwise scratch our heads in disbelief upon hearing. The legend of how lavender came by its name tells of how Adam and Eve removed lavender from the Garden of Eden, where it grew void of scent.
One day, Mary placed the garments of baby Jesus over a lavender bush to dry and low and behold, as she removed the clothes, lavender was left with its wonderful fragrance.
The tale is believable enough, but the paradox arises with the story of Cleopatra V11 or V1 (69-30 BC). She is said to have used ‘this overwhelming and bewitching scent to seduce Julius Caesar and Marcus Antonius’.
That’s why they call it folklore!
In Roman times, because the asp made its nest in lavender bushes, harvesting lavender was the domain of those who knew how to avoid the asp’s venomous strike.
Cleopatra is thought to have been killed by an asp found under one of her lavender bushes.
Shrewd growers made utmost use of this superstition, mystifying the herb to force-up the price, selling the flowers for 100 denarii per pound, equal to a month’s wages for a farm labourer.
Lavender is thought to have originated in Mesopotamia, which is rather fitting, for it is said that civilisation itself began there.
The Arabs were the first to cultivate lavender. Those who professed to hold the knowledge of lavender’s healing powers and those of herbs generally, were often associated with the spiritual world both of a deity of the time and the superstitious and, at times, involved sorcery and witchcraft.
Because it was used to ward-off the ‘evil eye’, lavender was known as the good witches’ herb.
Lavender oil was used by the ancient Egyptians and Phoenicians in mummifications, to preserve the skin and intestines, while the flowers masked the smell of the decomposed flesh.
The ancient Egyptians and Chinese invented the still and perfected the technique for distilling the essential oils.
The ancient Greeks used Lavandula stoechas as a laxative and for treating chest conditions, while the Romans used it for stomach upsets, dropsy, kidney complaints and as an antiseptic for jaundice, wounds and insect bites.
As a ‘strewing herb’ to disinfect and deodorise, lavender, for many centuries, was sprinkled over floors of institutions, hospitals and castles and between clothes and linens to repel moths and mosquitoes.
Women would deodorise their person, by tying small bunches of it to their undergarments.
In later centuries, lavender’s virtues were found to alleviate headaches, nervous palpitations, hysteria, hoarseness, palsy, toothache, aching joints, coughs and colic.
During the height of the Great plague in Toulouse, France in 1630, four thieves plundered the city without contracting the deadly disease.
Upon their capture a judge, on condition that they reveal the secret essence that caused their protection from the disease, promised to commute their sentences.
The decoction, now known as ‘The Four Thieves Vinegar’, was a mixture of lavender, thyme, rosemary and sage, infused in vinegar.
The story holds credence as the plague was transmitted by fleas, which lavender is known to repel.
A century later the disease struck Marseilles, and herbalists added garlic to the formula.
In the 19th century, a French distiller patented the formula and sold it to those whom visited the sick, such as nuns, doctors and priests.
He prescribed: “Drink some on an empty stomach in the morning, rub your temples with it and go out in tranquillity to visit the sick.”
Doctors prescribed lavender to their patients for treating melancholy, swooning fits, failure of memory, weak sight, acne and barrenness in women.
Victorian women held ‘tussie-mussies’ under their noses to mask the abhorrent street odours of open sewage and animal manure.
Also for the Victorians, lavender in a bouquet was an emblem of devotion, trust and luck. Their love of lavender made it a very in-vogue perfume, but alas, in time it was thought an old ladies scent and its fashion status declined.
Scientists in the 20th century refined these simple decoctions into pure chemical molecules.
However, in time, it lost its eminence in the healing world, but continued to be used as a principal ingredient in the production of perfume, potpourri, craft and aromatherapy.
It seemed to have been an all-cure herb, for if placed under the bed of newly-weds it induced passion, but on the other side of the coin, when sprinkled on to the head of a loved one, it ensured the wearer’s chastity!
Today, lavender’s popularity has been revived, and its uses in homeopathic remedies are abundant, as well as its use in baking, in bread-making and in confectionery.
It is a breathtaking plant for the garden and I always wonder who the lucky bee-keeper is of the wonderful bees that visit our lavender plants and envy him the honey they provide.
Thus the long tradition endures, each interpretation adding a layer of meaning to the aromatic flower.
Its vitality is revealed in its rich cultural history, nourished by its homeopathic properties, as a symbol of love, affection, cleanliness, purity, chastity, protection, longevity, acknowledgement, perseverance, peace, intriguing tales of myth, legend and lore.
™Lavender enjoys a well-drained calcareous (limestone derived) soil. Avoid watering your lavender plant from above as this can cause it to split. Drip irrigation is preferable. After flowering, prune lavender back to one third or one half of the plant and take stem cuttings 4-6 inches (10-15cm) long to ensure a continuous stock as lavenders do not delight in our summer watering and humidity unless planted in a raised bed and under shade.
™The two lavender cultivars recommended for culinary purposes are, L. angustifolia and L. intermedia.
™Lavandula stoechas, from the Mediterranean region, commonly known as Spanish lavender, is the most striking in flower of all lavenders. It bears terminal heads of rich purple flowers, each topped with a tuft of pinkish-purple, fluttering bracts, which are referred to as ‘rabbit ears’.
™Lavandula dentate hails from the Mediterranean, Micronesian Islands and Arabia. It bears densely-packed, soft spikes of mauve-blue flowers from autumn through to summer. The fern-like, grey-green leaves are with blunt teeth or lobes.
™Lavandula chaetostachys comes from India and has branched flower spikes and thick stems and leaves.
™Lavandula subnuda, native to south Arabia to tropical Africa, bears alternate or a spiral arrangement of the fertile bracts.
Lavandula features in my book Tropical Trees and Shrubs of Bahrain.
Elizabeth Shaheen – GDN – 30 Apr, ’06