Commercial and scientific notes on essential oils. 45 



of such bracts and bracteoles of Lavandula officinalis, Chaix, L. latifolia, Vill. and 

 L. pyrenaica, DC. and their hybrids, taken from the "Office national cles Matieres premieres 

 vegetates". According to Humbert, the hybrids of lavender and spike are more widely 

 distributed than it was hitherto believed. Very frequent is the hybrid "Lavandula lati- 

 folia < officinalis'', in which the properties of L. officinalis preponderate, so that the 

 gatherers do not know how to distinguish it from the true kind. The other hybrid, 

 L. latifolia > officinalis, so-called "lavandin", resembling more IJ. latifolia, is better 

 known to the distillers and avoided by them. Perhaps the lavender-fields in England 

 and in Pornichet (Loire-Inferieure), which both yield oils of a low ester percentage, 

 are cultivations of the hybrid "L. latifolia < officinalis". 



Humbert states further that Lavandula Burnati, Briq. of the Maritime Alps and 

 L. hortensis. Hy. 3 ) resemble the "lavandin", whereas L. Spica-latifolia, Albert, of the 

 Var and L. Burnati var. Fouresii, Coste, of the Causses de l'Aveyron, are more similar 

 to "A. latifolia < officinalis". 



As regards two hybrids of Lavandula latifolia, Vill. and L. officinalis, Chaix, see 

 page 118 of this Report. 



Oil of Lavandula Stoechas. — As results from the investigations of Roure- 

 Bertrand Fils 1 ), the oil of Lavandula Stoechas, L. 2 ), described by us some years ago 

 and which we afterwards designated as originating from L. dentata, L. 3 ), came in reality 

 from L. Stoechas after all. The confusion was due to the fact that we had originally 

 received (1905) from Spain the flowers of the real L. Stoechas, whereas the second time 

 (1915), when we asked again for the same kind, in order to have the plant determined 

 by a botanical authority, the flowers of L. dentata were sent us by mistake. The sender 

 maintained, however, that in either case the flowers had been taken from the same 

 plant. — Roure-Bertrand Fils state that the oils obtained by them in different years 

 (1906) and 1921) from French Lavandula Stoechas differed verry little from one another 

 and from the oil distilled by us (in 1905 from Spanish material), the constants being: — 

 d 15 o 0.945 to 0.948, « + 47° to +49° 56', acid v. 0.69 to 0.93, sap. v. 8.40 to 18.67, 

 ester v. 7.71 to 17.74, ester v. after acetylation 47.14, soluble in 5 vols, and more of 

 60 percent, alcohol. The principal constituents of the oil are d-camphor (semiear- 

 bazone, m. p. 238°), d-fenchone (oxime, m. p. 165°). Besides, fenchyl alcohol and per- 

 haps terpineol and a phenol seem to be present. 



In order to obtain pure fenchone, the authors oxidized the oil with nitric acid and 

 heated the product of the reaction repeatedly with* 10 per cent, aluminium chloride. 

 The resulting fenchone had the following constants; m. p. +3 to 5°, d 20 o 0.9443, 

 «d»o+54°34', n D2 io 1,4625, m. p. of the semicarbazone 174 to 176°. 



Roure-Bertrand Fils publish simultaneously an illustrated extensive botanical study 

 by A. Camus regarding Lavandula Stoechas is, like rosemary, according to its whole 

 structure a xeropriilous plant which can stand a good deal of drought It thrives on arid 

 slopes, exposed to the sun, on heaths and steppes, frequently together with Cistus 

 and Calycotome species, along the coast of the Mediterranean from Gibraltar to Asia 

 Minor, on the Canaries, in Madeira, Portugal, Spain, Menorca, Sardinia, France, Corsica, 

 Italy, the Balkans, Crete, Syria, Palestine, Morocco, Algeria and Tunis. Lavandula 

 dentata, however, does not occur in France, but only in the coastal regions of part of the 

 Mediterranean countries, such as Spain, Morocco, Algeria and perhaps southern Italy. 



*) Bull. Br/Hre-Bertrand Fils, Oct. 1921, 3. — 2 ) Comp. Reports October 1905, 10; April 1908, 62. 

 % ) Report April 1915, 28. 



