CHAP. LXXXVI. 



LABIA CE.TE. 



1281 



as is indicated by the name, which is compounded of two Latin words, ros, 

 marinus, signifyinif sea-dew, 



Stdc/ti/s fruticulosa Bicb. is a low evergreen shrub, from Caucasus, which 

 seldom grows above 1 ft. in height; but which maybe planted where it is 

 desired to include as many species as possible in the arboretum. S. steno- 

 phylla Spr., from Spain, and S. palcsthia L., from Syria, grow about the same 

 height. StdcJit/s lavandidcefoHa is a native of the Levant, and produces its pur- 

 ple flowers in May and August. 



Lnvdndtda Spica L., N. Du Ham., 3. t. 42., and 

 om' Jig. 1 140., the common hivender, is a well-known 

 fragrant slirub, which, like the rosemary, lias 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 flowx^s ; and L. lati- 

 fhlia Ehrh., which is not uncommon in gardens, and 

 which has lilac flowers, though treated by some as a 

 species, is probably nothing more than another variety. 



The common lavender is a native of the south of 

 Eurojie, the north of Africa, and the west of Asia, in 

 warm, rocky, and barren places. It is i)articularly 

 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 vncl 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 fragi-ance 

 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 aftections. 

 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 tiieir powerful aromatic 

 odour, are frequently put into wardrobes among clothes, as an antidote to moths, 

 particularly in the case of woollen stuifs. 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, 

 produces most oil ; and, as the odour of this plant and the rosemary, as, 

 indeed, of all the Labiaceas, depends on the disengagement of their oil, of 

 course it is most felt in liot da^s 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 

 plantations, which occupy between 40 and 50 acres. " The plants are raised 

 from cuttings, which are slipped off" and prepareil by women in tiic autunni, 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 he 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. 



4 p 2 



