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Learn how to make the difference...
Lavender is an original plant, while lavandin is a natural hybrid, a cross from True Lavender and “Spike” Lavender. Lavandin is then sterile, and grows in lower altitudes.
The True Lavender reproduces with seeds or cutting. This means that you can find it in the wild state.
Lavender that reproduces with seeds gives different plants, that’s why the Lavender fields have a quite heterogeneous aspect. Every lavandin plant being a hybrid from the other, they all look the same, and the fields are harmonious.
If you look closer, you will observe that the Lavender ear is small, with a “lavender” colour, and has a small stem (30 to 40 cm).
In some places like Laborel (a small village in Provence, France), you will find a True Lavender variety called “Extra Blue”. This Lavender was chosen by cuttings to give a very bright blue (so blue that some people believe that it is painted). It makes beautiful bouquets that remain perfect during many years. However, its perfume is very slight.
The lavandin ear is bigger, sharp, and purple. The stems are longer (60 to 80 cm). |
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Like in Laborel, Lavender only grows from an altitude of 400 to 500 meters, never below, while you might find lavandin at any altitude, even at the seaside.
Lavandin was selected for its quantitative yield (4 to 5 kg of lavandin oil vs. 1 kg of Lavender oil), but its essential oil is more camphorated and acrid.
The Lavender essential oil is still used in perfumery (its perfume is softer and more delicate), in pharmacy (for its therapeutic properties), in aromatherapy and aromachology.
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