The Genus Lavandula

Long prized by the fragrance industry for its essential oils, the genus Lavandula is steadily increasing in popularity among gardeners and horticulturists worldwide. This is the first full treatment of this important genus to be undertaken since 1937. It treats 40 species and their cultivars and hybrids, presenting their taxonomy, distribution, and the history of their cultivation. With several useful appendices, as well as chapters on cultivation, propagation, and pests and diseases, The Genus Lavandula is a comprehensive and authoritative account of this important genus. Exquisite paintings from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, complement the text.

Lavenders have been known since ancient times. The first written account can be traced to

the Greek physician Dioscorides in about AD 65 (Anderson, 1977), who knew L. stoechas

and wrote primarily of its medicinal value. Throughout the Middle Ages new written works on

botany were rare but the Abbess Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179) is credited with the

earliest mention of lavender (probably referable to L. angustifolia and L.

latifolia) and discussed their medicinal properties. During the Renaissance new works

became more common and the invention of printing in Europe enabled much larger quantities of

books to be produced. In the field of botany the first of these new works were the herbals

and these related primarily to the value of plants for medicine and food. Given the

attributes assocated with lavender it is of no surprise that they appear in many of the

herbals of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and the recognition of several species can

be attributed to the herbalists. These include the species we now refer to as L.

angustifolia, L. latifolia, L. multifida, L. dentata and L.

pedunculata.

During the latter half of the sixteenth century and the early seventeenth century, interest

in plants purely for their medicinal uses and other virtues began to change with the early

taxonomists, who also studied plants for their intrinsic and scientific value (Stace, 1989).

In this period further species were recognised, such as L. viridis and L.

canariensis. Works of this period had a major influence on subsequent classifications.

Particularly influential was the French botanist Joseph Pitton de Tournefort

(1656–1708). He had a clear idea of generic concepts and described many genera in his

most important work, Institutiones Rei Herbariae (Tournefort, 1700). He recognised

what we now regard as the genus Lavandula as two separate genera, Lavandula

itself (containing L. spica and L. multifida), and Stoechas (consisting

of L. stoechas and L. dentata).

This brings us to modern botanical nomenclature which begins with Species Plantarum by the Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus (1707–78) (Linnaeus, 1753). At that time, it was mainly the European and Mediterranean floras that were known to any great degree and this was reflected in the seven species of Lavandula then recognised. In terms of modern nomenclature the earlier names are discounted, being long phrase names which were greatly confused by different authors. Linnaeus, who used binomial names, was the first to provide modern names for some of these species: L. dentata, L. stoechas, L. spica (including both L. angustifolia and L. latifolia) and L. multifida. Also important for the publication of the first modern binomial names, was the 8th edition of the Gardeners Dictionary (Miller, 1768). In addition to the four names recognised by Linnaeus, Philip Miller (1691–1771) recognised and provided the first binomial names for L. canariensis, L. angustifolia and Stoechas pedunculata (L. pedunculata). Miller followed Tournefort in recognising two genera, Lavandula and Stoechas, whose classification he considered far superior to that of Linnaeus. In fact most authors of the time recognised these two genera, and Linnaeus differed by uniting them. It is Linnaeus' generic concept that has survived to the present day.