BY TERRY BARLIN VESCI & JESSICA DUNHAM
LAVENDER HAS LONG been a beloved flowering plant, not only for its looks and aroma but also because of its distinct floral flavor in dishes and its well-documented antibacterial and calming properties. Believed to be first farmed and distilled for its oils in Arabia some 2,500 years ago, lavender is now a multimillion-dollar industry. Let’s take a look at the favorite herb through the ages.
IT’S NAMED AFTER BATHS Lavender is native to the Middle East and Mediterranean regions, where it still grows wild. The ancient Romans took advantage of it and, in one of the earliest examples of people embracing its fragrance in their daily routines, added lavender blossoms to their bathwater. In fact, the word “lavender” comes from the Latin lavare, meaning “to wash.”
IT WAS USED FOR MEDICINE & LOVE Legend has it that 16th-century French glovemakers perfumed their wares with lavender to ward off cholera, and grave-robbing thieves washed in the herb to avoid the plague. In Tudor England (1485–1603), girls made lavender tea to spur visions of future husbands, and newlyweds stuffed buds into their mattresses to spark marital bliss.
QUEEN VICTORIA MADE IT TRENDY In the late 1800s, she honored lavender distiller Sarah Sprules with the title of Purveyor of Lavender Essence to the Queen. Sprules became widely known for her lavender water, and as the herb’s popularity grew in the English court, women all over the country started growing the herb as an ornamental plant.
IT LAUNCHED AROMATHERAPY In the early 20th century, the chemist René-Maurice Gattefossé burned his hand. He treated the burn with lavender oil, and after witnessing how fast the wound healed, he published a treatise on the medicinal use of essential oil and the possible therapies of aromatic plants, even coining the term “aromatherapy.”
IT’S BEEN IN KITCHENS FOREVER Along with other culinary herbs like basil and sage, lavender is in the mint family, and people have added it to their dishes for centuries. Powdered lavender may even have been used as a food preservative in medieval times. Today we still enjoy it in sweets, marinades, cocktails, and more.
To dive deeper into the herb, pick up the new book The Lavender Companion ($26; bookshop.org), and check out Terry’s lavender farm in Pine, Arizona (pinelavenderfarm.com).
ILLUSTRATION BY MIA NOLTING
COURTESY OF PUBLISHER. ADAPTED FROM THE LAVENDER COMPANION © 2024 BY TERRY BARLIN VESC I AND JESSICA DUNHAM. USED WITH PERMISSION FROM STOREY PUBLISHING