Medicinal and aromatic plants – industrial profiles

Mrs Grieve (1937)
L. vera
Describing English lavender (
L. vera
), she clarifies the 
L. officinalis
of the sixteenth century
botanists as being two distinct plants, known and named by the French botanist Jordan as 
lavender of dauphine (
L. delphinesis
) and 
L. fragrans
from which the French distil lavender oil.
L. spica
She continues by describing spike lavender (
L. spica
DC or 
latifolia
Vill.) which also grows in the
mountainous districts of France, the flowers which yield three times as much essential oil, but of
a second rate quality, less fragrant than that of true lavender. It is called by Parkinson the lesser
or minor lavender and by some ‘Nardus Italica’ (some believing it is the spikenard of the bible).
Grieves continues by explaining that 
L. spica
and 
L. fragrans
often form hybrids known as bastard
lavender, care having to be taken that neither the ‘bastard’ nor the spike lavender are among the true
lavender during distillation as both will injure the quality of the essential oil. White lavender, which
is sometimes found in the Alps and is described by Gerard, is probably a form of 
L. delphinesis
.
L. stoechas
Finally, in her description of the varieties of lavender she comes to 
L. stoechas
also known as
French lavender, for which Gerard gives four varieties. Mrs Grieves ascribes this kind of lavender
the classical Romans and Libyans who used it as a perfume for the bath. In Spain and Portugal
in the 1930s it was used to strew the floors of churches and houses on festive occasions. The
flowers were used in England medicinally until the middle of the eighteenth century, being
called ‘Sticadore’ in has even more ancient pedigree as one of the ingredients of the ‘Vinegar of
the Four Thieves’ famous in the Middle Ages. It is generally not used in the distillation of oil,
though in France and Spain the country people extract the oil in a simple manner and use it to
dress wounds, this is done by hanging the flowers downwards in a closed bottle in the shade.
The Arabs use the flowers as an expectorant and anti-spasmodic.
Mrs Grieve ascribes lavender as being formerly used as a condiment and for flavouring ‘dishes to
comfort the stomach’, and conserves for the table. She states that it has aromatic, carminative and
nervine properties and though largely used in perfumery it was in her day employed as a flavour-
ing agent, in pharmacy to cover the disagreeable odours in ointments and other compounds. Red
lavender lozenges were employed as both a mild stimulant and for their agreeable taste.
The essential oil (or a spirit of lavender made from it), however, had much wider applications:
according to Grieve it is an admirable restorative, and tonic against faintness, nervous palpita-
tions, weak giddiness, spasms and colic. Its pleasant smell provokes the appetite, it raises the
spirits, and dispels flatulence taken on sugar with a dosage of 1– 4 drops. She also recommends 
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Jo Castle and Maria Lis-Balchin

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a few drops in a footbath to relieve fatigue and external application for toothache, neuralgia,
sprains and rheumatism; and that it is a powerful stimulant in treating hysteria, palsy and simi-
lar disorders of debility and lack of nerve power; quoting Gerard on its external application 
for this purpose. However, later in her chapter on the subject she says that an infusion of laven-
der tops made in moderate strength is excellent for headaches from fatigue; ‘an infusion taken
too freely, however, will cause griping and colic and lavender oil in too large doses is a narcotic
poison and causes death by convulsions’. She quotes Culpeper’s warning regarding the taking 
of oil of spike (disregarding the difference between oil and an infusion) in support of this 
statement.
With regard to usage in the 1930s Grieve affirms that oil of lavender could help in some cases
of mental depression and delusions, and nervous headaches, if rubbed into the temples; faintness
could be cured by compound tincture of lavender (red lavender). This tincture, which contains
lavender, rosemary, cinnamon bark, nutmeg and red sandalwood macerated in spirits of wine for
seven days, had remained in the British Pharmacopoeia for 250 years and was known as ‘Palsy
drops’ in the eighteenth century and when it first appeared, and in the seventeenth century con-
tained over thirty ingredients (very typical of compounds of the period). Statements for its effi-
cacy when first made ‘Official’ included all those ascribed to Hildegard, Gerard and Culpeper for
lavender, plus loss of memory, dimness of sight and bareness of women.
To summarise Mrs Grieve’s advice
Lavender oil is of service when used to anoint the temples and forehead for headaches, as an
external massage for paralysed limbs (at a time when polio was still widespread). Hot fomenta-
tions of lavender in bags, applied hot, will aid the recovery of local pain. Distilled water of laven-
der is a gargle for hoarseness and loss of voice. The French Academy of Medicine used oil of
lavender for swabbing wounds and other antiseptic purposes during the war and the oil has been
subsequently used in the treatment of sores, varicose ulcers and burns and scalds. In veterinary
practice lavender oil is used in the elimination of lice and other parasites, and finally the oil is
increasingly used in the embalming of corpses.
Note on use as antiseptic
The antiseptic power of lavender oil is not regarded as high, as 
in vitro
antimicrobial work by
Lis-Balchin 
et al
. (1998), showed that lavender has relatively low antibacterial activity and that
it is very variable, from batch to batch of commercial lavender oil. It would, however, make the
septic wound and ward smell somewhat better.