lavender comes originally from southern Europe. Characteristic of high Provence, many fields in southern France smell of lavender during the flowering period from June to August.
Occurrence and cultivation of lavender
Is known lavender also under various other names such as spiklavender, nerve herb, lavander, Speick and tobacco blossom. Scientists call the plant Lavendula officinalis. The lavender belongs to the mint family.
He prefers warm dry slopes lavender. It was the Benedictines who brought lavender over the Alps. However, the subshrub has meanwhile spread in Central Europe. The flowers are collected in July and August and used for healing.
The shape of the leaves is called linear. When young, they are gray-blue. The shrub appears hairy and soft with gray tomentose when it is still young. Later it becomes increasingly green. The lavender reaches a height of half a meter to a meter. The branches point straight up, the leaves reach up to five centimeters in length.
Due to their blue-purple color, the flowers look very attractive. This color is also known as lavender, hence the name. The flowers look like ears in their shape. They smell of balm and are very aromatic.
Effect & application
Beekeepers appreciate that lavender as a so-called secondary costume. The sugar content is very high and the taste is round and balanced. The lavender has a calming effect on people. This is how the plant became known as a medicinal plant. Lavender is said to have healing properties in many ways. The ingredients are essential oil, tannin, saponide and glycoside.
The popular lavender oil comes from the inflorescences with stems. To do this, the flowers can be placed in oil, for example in olive oil. Steam distillation is also suitable for the production of lavender oil. To ensure that the active ingredient is rich, the harvest should begin early in the morning. Picking is also recommended shortly after a downpour, as soon as the flowers are dry again.
When the leaves are still young and the shoots are soft, cooks like to use the plant to refine and season lamb, poultry, soups and fish. Spanish, Italian and French cuisine have become known for this type of seasoning. Avant-garde chefs also use lavender for desserts. The aroma is bitter and spicy. Packaged in an aroma-tight package, dried lavender can be kept for six months to nine months.
Importance to health
lavender is well suited for internal and external use. A lavender tea mixture is said to help against lumbago. It also has an antiseptic, antispasmodic, asthma, exhaustion, high blood pressure, cough, nervousness and much more. It makes it a popular remedy.
A tincture with lavender can be both ingested and applied to the skin. As a bath additive, you can relax wonderfully with lavender. There are also ointments based on lavender. It soothes skin irritations. The beneficial power of lavender is used in babies and toddlers. Lavender pillows have a calming effect on them. Herbal vinegar with lavender content is very digestible and tasty. It shows its advantages especially in diseases such as rheumatism and gout.
Lavender is not only characterized by its healing properties. If a lavender pillow is placed in a wardrobe, the items of clothing are spared from moths. Used in a fragrance lamp, the essential oil of lavender purifies the air and also calms people in it.
