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folia Ebrh., which is not uncommon in gardens, and 
CHAP. LXXXVI. LABIA ‘CER. 1281 
as is indicated by the name, which is compounded of two Latin words, ros, 
marinus, signifying sea-dew. 
Stachys fruticuldsa Bieb. is a low evergreen shrub, from Caucasus, which 
seldom grows above 1 ft. in height; but which may be planted where it is 
desired to include as many species as possible in the arboretum. S. steno- 
philla Spr., from Spain, and S. palestina L., from Syria, grow about the same 
height. Stachys lavandulefolia is a native of the Levant, and produces its pur- 
ple flowers in May and August. 
Lavandula Spica L., N. Du Ham., 3. t. 42., and 
our fig. 1140., the common lavender, is a well-known 
fragrant shrub, which, like the rosemary, has been 
long an inhabitant of British gardens. In deep, dry, 
calcareous soils, it will grow to the height of 3 ft , and 
form a compact hemispherical bush, flowering abun- 
dantly every year. The flowers are generally purple, 
but there is a variety with white flowers ; and L. /ati- 
which has lilac flowers, though treated by some as a 
species, is probably nothing more than another variety. dw ES 
The common lavender is a native of the south of 7 i 
Europe, the north of Africa, and the west of Asia, in 
warm, rocky, and barren places. It is particularly 
abundant in Provence; where, as the rosemary, the 
thyme, and the heath do in other districts, it gives a 
peculiar flavour to the honey, which is known as the miel de Provence, 
and which, after that of Narbonne, a kind that, as already mentioned, takes 
the flavour of rosemary, is considered the best in France. The lavender 
was held in high estimation by the Greeks and Romans, for its fragrance 
and aromatic properties; and it has been esteemed, on the same account, 
in Britain, and cultivated in gardens for its medicinal virtues from time 
immemorial. Medicinally, in the form of tincture, spirit, or essential oil, 
it is considered a powerful stimulant to the nervous system, and is, conse- 
quently, generally had recourse to in headachs and _ hysterical affections. 
The odour resides entirely in the essential oil, which is contained in every 
part of the plant, but principally in its spikes of flowers and flower-stalks, 
from which the oil is obtained by distillation. This oil, rectified, and again 
distilled, and mixed with spirits of wine, forms the well-known lavender 
water of the perfumers. The flowers, on account of their powerful aromatic 
odour, arefrequently put into wardrobes among clothes, as an antidote to moths, 
particularly in the case of woollen stuffs. A few drops of the oil will serve 
the same purpose. So powerful are the effects of this oil, that, if a single drop 
of it be put in a box along with a living insect, the latter almost instantly dies. 
The lavender is cultivated in various parts of France; and it is so much 
hardier than the rosemary, that it is grown in quantities for perfumers, even 
in the neighbourhood of Paris. The driest soil, in the warmest situation, 
roduces most oil; and, as the odour of this plant and the rosemary, as, 
indeed, of all the Labiacew, depends on the disengagement of their oil, of 
course it is most felt in hot days and during sunshine. The lavender has been 
long cultivated in the neighbourhood of London, and in other parts of 
England. Park Place, near Henley on Thames, is celebrated for its lavender 
ee which occupy between 40 and 50 acres. “ The plants are raised 
om cuttings, which are slipped off and prepared by women in the autumn, and 
bedded in, in rows, in any spare piece of garden ground, where they remain 
for two years. The ground into which they are to be transplanted, being 
prepared by shallow trenchings or double ploughing, the plants are placed in 
rows 4 ft. apart, and at 2 ft. distance in the rows. For three or four years, a 
row of turnips or potatoes is grown between the rows of lavender ; after which 
period, or about the time that the lavender plants in the rows touch each 
other, half of them are removed, leaving the field covered with plants 4 ft. 
4p 2 
