Lavandula stoechas (French lavender, Spanish lavender, or topped lavender) occurs naturally in Mediterranean countries.

Description

A perennial shrub, it usually grows to 30–100 cm tall and wide, occasionally up to 2 meters high in the subsp. luisieri. The leaves are 1–4 cm long, greyish and tomentose.

The flowers are pink to purple, produced on spikes 2– cm long at the top of slender, leafless stems 10–30 cm long; each flower is subtended by a bract 4–8 mm long. At the top of the spike are a number of much larger, sterile bracts (no flowers between them), 10–50 mm long and bright lavender purple (rarely white). ^[1]

Subspecies

The recognised subspecies are;

• L. stoechas pedunculata, the common type specific plant, once taxonomically considered L. pedunculata. There is considerable variation in this subspecies, and it may be split into a number of distinct forms. It is native to many coastal regions of the Mediterranean, with some populations on the Atlantic coasts of Morocco and Spain.^[1]
• L. stoechas luisieri, which has petals much less interconnected. It is found mainly in Portugal and adjacent regions of Spain.^[1]

Cultivation

This species is more fragile than common lavender (Lavandula angustifolia), as it is less winter hardy; but harsher and more resinous in its oils. Like other lavenders, it is associated with hot, dry, sunny conditions in alkaline soils. However, it tolerates a range of situations, though it may be short-lived.^[2]

Selected forms are grown as ornamental plants. ^[1] The cultivars L. stoechas subsp. pedunculata 'Butterfly' (syn. L. pedunculata subsp. pedunculata)^[3] and 'Willow Vale'^[4] have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

Other uses

L. stoechas is used commercially in air fresheners and insecticides. Flower spikes have been used internally for headaches, irritability, feverish colds and nausea, and externally for wounds, rheumatic pain and as an insect repellent.^[5]

Invasive species

Since its introduction into Australia, it has become an invasive species, widely distributed within the continent. It has been declared a noxious weed in Victoria since 1920. It also is regarded as a weed in parts of Spain.^[6]

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  Wild L. stoechas

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  Wild in Ceuta, Spain

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  Subspecies pedunculata

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  Subspecies luisieri

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  Italy

References

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