Introduction to lavender

Lavender (Latin scientific name: Lavandula angustifolia Mill.) is also known as perfume plant, spiritual herb, vanilla, yellow vanilla, Lavender. It is a small shrub belonging to the class Dicotyledonidae, Lamiaceae, and genus Lavandula. The stems are erect, covered with stellate hairs, and the old branches are gray-brown, with strips of peeling cortex. The leaves are strip-shaped or lanceolate-shaped, covered with sparse or dense gray star-like hairs, gray white or olive green when dry, and the entire edge is curled outward. Verticillary inflorescences are gathered into intermittent or nearly continuous spikes at the top of the branches; the bracts are rhomboid-ovate, and the bracts are inconspicuous; the calyx is ovate-cylindrical or nearly cylindrical; the corolla is about twice as long as the cao, and the tube is Straight, covered with glandular hairs in the throat. Nutlets are oval and smooth.

It is native to the Mediterranean coast, various parts of Europe and the Oceania Islands, and was later widely cultivated in the United Kingdom and Yugoslavia. Its leaves are beautiful and elegant in color, and its blue-purple inflorescences are long and beautiful. It is a new perennial cold-resistant flower in the courtyard. It is suitable for planting in clusters or strips along the flower path, and can also be viewed in pots.

Morphological characteristics

Lavender is a semi-shrub or dwarf shrub, branched, covered with star-like tomentose, which is dense in the young parts; the old branches are grey-brown or dark brown, with striped cortex. Shapely peeling, with long flowering branches and short newer branches. The leaves are linear or lanceolate, and the leaves on the flowering branches are larger, distant, 3-5 cm long, 0.3-0.5 cm wide, covered with dense or sparse gray star-like hairs, gray white or olive green when dry, and appear when renewing. The leaves on the branches are small, clustered, no more than 1.7 cm long, about 0.2 cm wide, densely covered with gray-white stellate hairs, gray-white when dry, all with blunt apex, base attenuated into a very short stalk, entire edge, rolled edge, midrib It is raised below, and the side veins and network veins are not obvious. ?

The whorls usually have 6-10 flowers, most of which are gathered into intermittent or nearly continuous spikes at the top of the branches. The spikes are about 3 (5) cm long, and the peduncle is about The inflorescence itself is 3 times as long, densely covered with stellate tomentose; the bracts are rhomboid-ovate, apex acuminate into subulate, with 5-7 veins, the stem is often rust-colored, covered with stellate tomentose, and the bracteoles are inconspicuous; flowers Stem short, blue, densely covered with gray, branched or unbranched tomentose. Calyx is ovate-tubular or sub-tubular, 4-5 mm long, with 13 veins, the inner surface is nearly hairless, bilabial, the upper lip has 1 tooth that is wider and longer, and the lower lip has 4 short teeth, the teeth are equal and obvious. The corolla is about twice as long as the calyx, with 13 veins. The outer integument is the same as the calyx, but the base is nearly hairless. The inner surface is covered with glandular hairs at the throat and crown eaves, with a ring of hairs in the middle. Lip shape, the upper lip extends straight, with 2 lobes, the lobes are larger, round, and slightly overlap each other, the lower lip spreads, 3 lobes, with smaller lobes. There are 4 stamens, which are inserted above the hair ring and do not extend outward. The front pair is longer, the filaments are flat and hairless, and the anthers are hairy. Style hairy, flattened at apex, ovate. Disk 4-lobed, lobes opposite to ovary lobes. ?

4 small nuts, oval, smooth, shiny, with a base surface. Flowering period is June. The whole plant has a light aroma with a slightly woody sweetness. The villi on the flowers, leaves and stems all contain oil glands. The oil glands burst when lightly touched, releasing the aroma.