Lavender Oil (24 page)

                               
  
To treat an ulcer, bathe the sore gently with a warm diluted solution of lavender oil (by adding a few drops to a bowl of distilled/ boiled water). Then apply a 10 per cent lavender cream (see instructions
page
), or cover with a pad which has been saturated in a solution of 3 parts olive oil to 1 part lavender oil.

                               
  
Tea tree oil may be used in the same manner (or in combination with lavender).

–
see
Leucorrhoea/Pruritis

Whooping cough, which is characterized by a sudden intake of breath or ‘whoop’ after a bout of coughing, can develop after a respiratory infection such as a cold, and usually affects children under the age of eight.

Lavender’s antispasmodic properties have a calming effect and help combat the primary infection.

                               
  
Use lavender in vaporizers in the bedroom, for the course of the illness, and in steaming hot inhalations (to soothe the bouts of coughing).

                               
  
Apply a hot compress to the chest using a few drops of lavender to facilitate breathing, or massage neat into the throat.

–
see
Chickenpox

PART THREE

There has long been some confusion over the correct botanical name for ‘true’ lavender, but the exact derivation for the commercially grown plant today is
L. angustifolia
Mill. subsp.
angustifolia.
¹
Apart from ‘true’ lavender there are principally three other types which are widespread throughout Europe and the Mediterranean region and are used for producing essential oils: spike lavender (
L. latifolia
), lavandin (
L. x intermedia
) and stoechas lavender (
L. stoechas
).

SPIKE LAVENDER, also known as Aspic, Lesser Lavender,
Nardus italica
or Broad-leaved Lavender (
L. latifolia, L. spica
).

An evergreen sub-shrub up to 1 m (3
¹
/2 ft) high, with lance-shaped leaves and dull greyish-blue flowers. It is found all along the Mediterranean coast, growing at altitudes of up to 800 m (2,624 ft) and cultivated on the south coast of France, in Italy, but most of all in Spain. The Spanish and French varieties represent two different chemo-types: the former is high in ketones, notably camphor (up to 60 per cent), making it a good mucolytic, stimulating and very penetrating oil but also quite toxic (contra-indicated for epilepsy); the latter is lower in ketones but contains more cineole and linalol, which makes it a useful
expectorant. Spike lavender is current in the
British Herbal Pharmacopoeia
, where it is indicated for flatulent dyspepsia, colic, depressive headache, and the oil (topically) for rheumatic pain. The French oil has a more delicate scent, but both it and the Spanish variety have a harsher fragrance than true lavender.

LAVANDIN or ‘Bastard Lavender’ (
L. x. intermedia, L. hybrida, L. hortensis, L. burnatii
)

Lavandin is a cross between true lavender (
L. angustifolia
) and spike lavender (
L. latifolia
), and due to its hybrid nature can take a variety of forms. In general it is a larger plant than
L. angustifolia
, though its flowers may be violet-blue like true lavender or greyish like spike. If the resultant cross is closer to true lavender it is called lavender ‘abrial’; if closer to spike lavender it is called lavender ‘reydovan’.

Lavender ‘abrial’ contains up to 30 per cent esters (mainly linalyl acetate) and is a good anti-infectious oil and quite sedative in effect. Sixty years ago lavandin only occurred in its wild form, but now it is commonly cultivated due to its hardy nature and because it yields more essential oil than either true lavender or spike. Its scent, however, is less refined than that of true lavender; nor can the oil be used as a substitute medicinally. (A concrete and absolute are also produced by solvent extraction).

LAVENDER STOECHAS, ‘French’ Lavender, Stickadore, Stichados, Cassidony or Arabian stoechas (
L. stoechas
)

A smaller shrub than true lavender, with dark purple, compact flowers. It grows in Italy, France, Spain and North Africa, although it is not as extensively cultivated as the three former varieties. The oil has a camphorous odour, more like rosemary than lavender, which is used in perfumes and soap, and contains a high proportion of the ketones camphor and fenchone, which makes it considerably toxic. It is nevertheless useful when used in dilution for chronic sinusitis, bronchitis and upper respiratory infections. Six sub-species exist.

OTHER SUB-SPECIES There are several sub-species of lavender (
L. angustifolia
), the two principal sub-species being
L. delphinensis
and
L. fragrans
. Different sub-species or chemotypes have also evolved according to the soil, altitude and habitat, for example six varieties have been developed in Bulgaria alone through a selection programme, including ‘Kazanluc’, ‘Karlovo’, ‘Hemus’, ‘Aroma’, ‘Svezhest’ and ‘Venets’. In addition, true lavender and spike lavender cross-hybridize with ease, and over the centuries have interbred in the wild, as well as in cultivation, to produce a wide variety of plants. The resulting cultivars, which may be first generation or subsequent generation plants, have been given different names according to their origination, such as ‘Hidcote Pink’, ‘Bowles Early’ or ‘Dwarf Blue’. There are also many cultivars of lavandin and spike lavender.

Around 50 different species can be seen in the UK at the National Lavender Collection, Caley Mill, Norfolk PE31 7JE.

dimethyl sulphide (trace)

acetone (0.08%)

pentanal (trace)

methoxyhexane (0.09%)

tricyclene (0.01%)

α-pinene (0.34%)

α-thujene (0.22%)

prenol
^a
(trace)

camphene (0.22%)

butyl acetate (0.06%)

hexanal (trace)

β-pinene (0.18%)

sabinene (0.05%)

butyl propionate (0.01%)

butyl isobutyrate (0.02%)

δ-3-carene (0.13%)

myrcene (1.27%)

1,3(E),5(Z),8(Z)-undecatetraene (0.01%)

sabinene hydrate (0.11%)

trans-linalool oxide-furanoid (0.16%)

camphenilone (trace)

camphor (0.45%)

linalool (17.81%)

linalyl acetate (21.84%)

β-bergamotene (0.12%)

α-santalene (1.11%)

bornyl acetate (0.55%)

α-bergamotene (0.15%)

lavandulyl acetate (7.30%)

terpinen-4-ol (6.43%)

β-caryophyllene (8.00%)

hexyl tiglate (0.10%)

β-santalene (0.02%)

β-farnesene (1.98%)

α-phellandrene (0.07%)

α-terpinene (0.11%)

limonene (0.42%)

1,8-cineole (0.91%)

butyl butyrate (0.25%)

2-hexenal (trace)

(Z)-β-ocimene (8.23%)

γ-terpinene (0.38%)

(E)-β-ocimene (6.24%)

3-octanone (1.39%)

hexyl acetate (0.55%)

ρ-cymene (0.29%)

terpinolene (0.15%)

octanal (trace)

3-octyl acetate (0.18%)

hexyl propionate (0.02%)

hexyl isobutyrate (0.08%)

hexanol (0.02%)

ocimene oxide (trace)

3,7-dimethylocta-2,4,6-trlene (0.03%)

1-octen-3-yl acetate (2.49%)

3-octanol (0.18%)

galbanolene
^b
(0.11%)

nonanal (trace)

lavandulol (1.17%)

α-humulene (0.25%)

cryptone (0.18%)

α-terpineol (1.00%)

borneol (1.06%)

germacrene D (0.88%)

neryl acetate (0.53%)

cis-linalool oxide-pyranoid (trace)

geranyl acetate (0.96%)

carvone (trace)

trans-linalool oxide pyranoid (trace)

γ-cadinene (0.25%)

tricyclo-ekα-santalal (0.05%)

nerol (0.23%)

cuminaldehyde (0.13%)

epoxy-linalyl acetate (0.02%)

geraniol (0.43%)

ρ-cymen-8-ol (0.17%)

epoxy-α-santalene (trace)

hotrienol (trace)

linalyl hexanoate (0.11%)

butyl benzoate (trace)

β-caryophyllene oxide (trace)

α-photosantalol A (0.10%)

rose furan (0.01%)

hexyl butyrate (0.38%)

butyl tiglate (0.11%)

1-octen-3-ol (0.48%)

cis-linalool oxide-furanoid (0.16%)

isocaryophyllene oxide (0.33%)

cubenol (trace)

T-cadinol (0.31%)

thymol (trace)

FROM PERFUMER & FLAVORIST 18 (JAN./FEB. 1993)

^a
prenol is also known as 2-methyl-but-2-en-4-ol

^b
galbanolene is also known as 1,3(E),5(Z)-undecatriene

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