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THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 



True Lavender. 



True Lavender (Lavandula vera, D.C. ; L. angustifolia, 



Moench. ; L. spica a L. ; Labiates]. Native of Southern Europe. 



Perennial. A dwarf shrub, 

 not exceeding from 2 to about 

 2j ft. in height. Stems very 

 numerous, forming compact 

 tufts or clumps ; leaves linear, 

 gray ; flower-stems slender, 

 square, bare, with the excep- 

 tion of one pair of opposite 

 leaves ; flowers violet-blue, in 

 a short terminal spike ; seed 

 brown, shining, oblong, with 

 a well-marked white spot at 

 one end, denoting its point 

 of attachment to the bottom 

 of the calyx. Its germinating 

 power lasts for five years. 



CULTURE. The Lavender- 

 plant delights especially in 



light and rather calcareous soil. It is generally grown as an 



edging to beds of other plants, and is propagated by division of 



the clumps, or from cuttings, rarely from seed. A plantation 



should be remade every 



three or four years. 



Common Lavender 



(Lavandula spica, D.C. ; 



L. spica fi L. ; L. latifolia, 



Vill.). More spreading 



in habit than the True 



Lavender and less shrubby, 



differing from it also by 



its larger leaves, which 



standout more horizontally 



and are slender in com- 

 parison with their size. 



The flower-stems are less 



numerous, more vigorous, 



less erect, and bear more 



developed branchlets than 



the True Lavender ; the 



flowers are also smaller 



and the fragrance not so Common Lavender 



delicate, for which reason 



the perfume distilled from this plant has only half the value of 



that obtained from the True variety. In Provence the two plants 



