Lavender is known for its healing properties and uses since ancient times.
The name lavender «lavender» comes from the latin word lavāre meaning wash, wash.
It is a plant belonging to the family Labiatae (Labiatae).
The plant is a perennial shrub with a height of 40-80 centimeters.
Abounds in calcareous slopes at an altitude of 400-2000 meters.
He shoots simple unbranched stenomafra gray leaves in opposite order and small purple blue flowers with two sides, which are joined in inflorescence cob.
The plant contains a flavoring agent particularly rich in acetic linalilio and linalool.
When you rub the plant and mainly the flowers, give off a wonderful aroma.
The best known genus is Lavandula comprising about 25 species from the Canary Islands, India and other Asian countries.
Lavender is used by Mediterranean peoples for more than 2500 years. Thanks to its numerous medicinal properties ranked among the 20 most popular herbs and fairly characterize as “Purple Gold”.
In Mesopotamia, today’s Iraq, it is said that when the culture began to start, lavender was local plant area. The first who used it were the Arabs.
In ancient times the Egyptians, Phoenicians and Arabs used lavender in embalming, cosmetics – products for massage and aromatic – and the remedies of the time. The ancient Libyans, the ancient Greeks and Romans used it to flavor the water of the bath.
The Romans put lavender oil on their hair to turn away the lice. Also placed lavender flowers in handcrafted bed to remove bugs.
In ancient Greece
The curative properties of lavender were known in ancient Greece and mentioned in Dioscorides and Galen, known doctors of the time.
The ancient Greeks called the lavender nard, the city nard Syria and used it to flavor their baths and for skin beautification.
The Greeks discovered early on that, if the flowers of lavender crushed and burned, then the smoke that is released is very relaxing.
According to reports, lavender seems to spread across Europe via Greece around 600 BC In England and the US went to the 16th and 17th century.
Special reports of lavender exist even in Christianity.
Ηealing properties
The essential oil containing lavender flowers used in perfumery and neurasthenia treatment.
It also has antiseptic properties, is antibacterial and is used in wound healing.
We use it on wounds, burns, insect bites and to treat itching.
In large doses lavender acts as a hypnotic and narcotic.
The curative properties have been known since ancient times and mentioned by Dioscorides, Pliny and Galen.
Two lavender species are well known. Lavender is stoichada that grows in the valleys and rocky parts lavender cob that grows in rocky places.
Since the two types and more of the second, is distilled to produce essential oil, which is used for the production of aromatic lotions and soaps. Aromatic plant – medicinal and besides decoction too used as essential oil as in perfumery, the soap and the pharmacopoeia.
The flowers are placed in closets, aromatizing and chasing away the moths. They also act as cough, asthma, pertussis, influenza, and laryngitis.
Lavender soothes stomach nerve pain and calms the nervous system, since it acts as relaxing. It helps digestion. Fights colic, bloating and flatulence.
Fights insomnia and stress, migraines and headaches.
As we read in the Petite Larousse book as antiseptic lavender acts on the bronchial secretions. Although externally applied to the loops, it is effective to pulmonary congestion or pneumonia.
It has diuretic and sudorific properties. It can also relieve partly rheumatism and pains.
Lavender species
Some of the most popular types of lavender are:
• The narrowleaf Lavender, Lavandula angustifolia.
This type gives the best quality lavender essential oil with the most therapeutic properties.
• Lavandula latifolia
• Lavandula lanata
• Lavandula dentata
• Lavandula multifida
• Lavandula stoechas
• Lavandula rotundifolia
• Lavandula viridisLavandula pinnata
• Lavandula canariensis
It is worth noting that after the Second World War was created third species of lavender. The so-called Lavandin is the intersection of lavender the French mountains and the Spanish «Lavandula latifolia». This is the lavandin has long flowering and can be grown in plains, as we see in France.
But the essential oil is of inferior quality and lacks those chemicals that have the healing properties of natural lavender, Lavandula Angustifolia of growing at high altitudes…
Lavender Oil in Greece 