Lavender

Description

Lavenders grow up to one to three feet high, with opposite, entire, and linear leaves.  The stem is covered with yellowish-grey, flaky bark.  The short-stalked lavender flowers are in whorls of six to ten flowers on terminating, blunt spikes (Grieve 1998).

History

In ancient Greece, Rome, and the Middle East, lavender was used medicinally as an antiseptic.  Its use spread to India and later to Tibet (Blumenthal 2000).  In ancient Egypt, lavender was used to wrap mummies (Duke 2001).  It was once thought that asps preferred to live among lavender plants, so that the plant must be approached with care (Grieve 1998).  In Europe, lavender was used to promote menstruation and treat cancer (NMCD 2000).

Flowering tips of lavender are considered diuretic and have also been used for colic and flatulence (Duke 2001). Gargling distilled water from lavender has been used for hoarseness.  The poultice was applied to treat snakebites and dog bites, as well as other wounds.  Lavender was also used to treat seizures, vertigo, loss of memory, dimness of sight, melancholy, fainting, infertility, and insomnia (Grieve 1998). Topically, lavender preparations were used to treat varicose ulcers, burns, paralyzed limbs, headache, neuralgia, rheumatism, sprains, and toothache (Grieve 1998, Duke 2001).  The essential oil has also been used as a tonic, appetite stimulant, and to get rid of flatulence (Grieve 1998).

Lavender essential oil has been used against lice in animals (Grieve 1998).

Lavender is now mainly grown for its essential oils, which are used in perfumes, soaps, aromatic vinegars, herbal tobaccos, scented sachets (Duke 2001), for flavoring jellies, and in teas (Kiple 2000).

Current Medicinal Uses

Inhalation of lavender appeared to reduce stress in one experiment (Motimura 2001); in another, lavender added no more beneficial effect than humidified water on mood and well-being (Louis 2001). A clinical trial that compared a tincture of Lavandula angustifolia to imipramine found imipramine superior; headache was more common in the lavender group (Akhondzadeh 2003).

In Germany, Commission E approved the internal use of lavender for restlessness, insomnia, and several gastrointestinal ailments (Blumenthal 2000)

References

Akhondzadeh S, Kashani L, Fotouhi A, Jarvandi S, Mobaseri M, Moin M, Khani M,Jamshidi AH, Baghalian K, Taghizadeh M. Comparison of Lavandula angustifolia Mill. tincture and imipramine in the treatment of mild to moderate depression: a double-blind, randomized trial. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry.  2003 Feb;27(1):123-7. 

Blumenthal M, Goldberg A, Brinckmann J, ed. Herbal Medicine. Integrative Medicine Communications, Newton, 2000. (pp. 226-227)

Duke JA. Handbook of Medicinal Herbs. CRC Press, Boca Raton, 2001. (p. 273)

Grieve M. A Modern Herbal. Tiger Books International, London, 1998 (first published in 1931 by Jonathan Cape Ltd):467-472.

Kiple KF, Ornelas KC, ed. The Cambridge World History of Food. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2000. (p. 1799)

Louis M, Kowalski SD.  Percept Mot Skills.  2001 Dec;93(3):713-8.  Reduction of mental stress with lavender odorant.

Lewis WH , Elvin-Lewis MPF. Medical Botany: Plants Affecting Man’s Health. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1977. (p. 338)

Motomura N, Sakurai A, Yotsuya Y.Use of aromatherapy with hospice patients to decrease pain, anxiety, and depression and to promote an increased sense of well-being. Am J Hosp Palliat Care. 2002 Nov-Dec;19(6):381-6.

Disclaimer 

Information on this website is for educational purposes only. Many herbs historically used for medicine are considered too toxic to use today; some of these herbs have caused deaths. Do not ingest these herbs based on information on this website. We have not provided sufficient information for the safe medicinal use of any of these herbs, nor sufficient information for treatment of poisoning. All recreational use of these herbs is dangerous.