Lavender: Lavandula angustifolia, Lavandula x intermedia
Plant family: Lamiaceae (the "mint" family)
Species: True lavender L. angustifolia "culinary" varietal is our internal nervine medicinal species of lavender. Lavandin L. x intermedia, is commonly distilled for essential oil and hydrosol and is used as a topical antimicrobial and antispasmodic. Both smell amazing and are medicinal in different ways.
Other species commonly found in aromatherapy: Spike lavender, L. latifolia, L. spicata.
Plant part used: Flowering tops, with a small part of the stem and leaves if desired when distilling.
Growth stage for distilling: The first harvests of lavender are in the bud/early flowering stage, and this is ideal for use as a tea, glycerite, or tincture. Lavenders will continue to yield exquisite hydrosol and essential oil through the mid-late seed stage. Constituents will change through the season. With distillation, we find that early season harvests yield a soft, sweet distillate as the plant is producing more "attractant" compounds for bees and other beneficial insects. As lavender transitions into seed, it creates a sharper, deeper distillate because the plant is producing more compounds that repel predatory insects and animals, and help the plant withstand stronger microbial pressure as the season progresses.
Ideal harvesting conditions:
It's important to harvest lavender when it is dry. The essential oil gland is located on the outside of the plant's flowers, leaves, and stems. When water washes over the plant, it rinses this off. Rain, overhead irrigation watering, early morning mist, and low-lying fog can result in decreased essential oil yields. Withholding water for many days prior to harvest will also encourage lavender to create more essential oils as it deals with this increased stress.
Late morning through afternoon is a nice time of day to harvest.
Preparation of plant prior to distilling: Flowering tops are separated from the stems and leaves with clippers, and then the flowering tops are cut into small pieces to increase the surface area of the plant material within the still.
Herbal Actions: L. angustifolia is a nervous system anxiolytic, anti-depressant, relaxant/sedative, antispasmodic for smooth and skeletal muscles, antimicrobial, astringent, anti-inflammatory, and carminative.
Energetic qualities: Cooling, drying, balances too much mobile (with its heavy, slow, and dull qualities), uplifting for depression (with its drying and clearing qualities).
Indications: There is significant research supporting lavender's use for many nervous system disorders. Lavender can be safely and effectively used for mild to moderate anxiety or depression, insomnia, chronic or acute pain, and is even helpful for preventing and reducing the symptoms of neurodegenerative disorders (Koulivand, 2013). Lavender also decreases muscular aches or spasms, in both skeletal and smooth muscles. Lavender inhalation or ingestion has shown effectiveness for increasing appetite, decreasing nausea, and helping with indigestion. Lavender essential oil can be used undiluted or diluted on the skin to help prevent infections or to help improve skin infections, as many bacteria and fungi are susceptible to it (Woronuk, 2011).
Safety: L. angustifolia whole plant is safe for internal use as tea, tincture, glycerite, or food. L. angustifolia and L. x intermedia essential oils both have a high safety profile for topical use. While lavender essential oil is one of the safer oils to use directly on the skin, it is recommended to dilute in a carrier oil to decrease the risk of skin irritation. Lavender essential oil is primarily metabolized via the kidneys and liver, so those with underlying kidney or liver issues should use caution with internal use or long term inhalation or topical use.
Constituent profile: Main constituents are: Linalool (high concentration of this in lavenders, around 20-50% depending on the varietal), borneol, alpha-terpineol, and terpinene-4-ol. L. angustoflia is unique in that it contains a high amount of linalyl acetate, which when synergized with linalool gives angustifolia its sweet honey-like fragrance and strong nervous system balancing profile. L. x intermedia is unique in that it contains camphor (found at ~4%), which imparts the high antimicrobial and mildly uplifting/stimulating properties to this plant. Keep in mind that there are hundreds of other constituents within these two species of lavender, all working together to create the intoxicating aroma and strong therapeutic range that you experience.
Experience:
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