L. stoechas is a hardy evergreen perennial, with short, gray-green, aromatic leaves and attractive purple bracts. I believe the variety I have in my garden is L. stoechas ssp pedunculata as it also has the purple bracts have the extra center tuft that looks like two rabbit ears. The leaves are very narrow and longer than the ordinary L.stoechas.
This plant traditionally grew along the Mediterranean coast in sandy, acidic soils or crystalline rocks. It is very abundant on the islands of Hyères, which the Ancient Romans called the 'Stoechades,' after this plant. Today it is primarily used as a garden plant.
It was most likely that L. stoechas was the Lavender that was used by the Romans and the Libyans, rather than L. angustifolia. It is plentiful in Spain and Portugal and the story goes that it was used to strew the floors of churches and houses on festive occasions, or to make bonfires on St. John's Day, in order to keep at bay any evil spirits that might be around.
The flowers of this species were used medicinally in England until about the middle of the eighteenth century and in France and Spain, country folk made a simple extract of the oil by hanging the flowers downwards in a closed bottle in the sunshine. This was then used to dress wounds.
Its aroma is more reminiscent of Rosemary rather than ordinary Lavender.
L. stoechas' Chemical Profile is also very different to that of L. angustifolia. L. stoechas contains around 70% Ketones (mainly fenchone, plus camphor, verbenone); 15% Monoterpenes (a-pinene, camphene, limonene) and small amounts of esters, sesquiterpenes, oxides and alcohols.
Precautions: Avoid during pregnancy and with babies and children. Because of its high ketone content it is highly recommended that this oil be used with caution and in small doses over short periods of time.
It has good analgesic, antineuralgic and anti-inflammatory properties and would be helpful for rheumatic pain and muscle aches and pains. It also has anticatarrh, expectorant and mucolytic properties and could be considered for use in cases of chronic bronchitis, sinusitis, colds, coughs and congestion.
A study was done on the Ethnopharmacological evaluation of the anticonvulsant, sedative and antispasmodic activities of Lavandula stoechas by L.Gilani AH, Aziz N, Khan MA, Shaheen F, Jabeen Q, Siddiqui BS, Herzig JW. J Ethnopharmacol. 2000 Jul;71(1-2):161-7. of Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, The Aga Khan University Medical College, 74800, Karachi, Pakistan.
Lavandula stoechas L. (Lamiaceae) has been used for a long time in traditional medicine as an anticonvulsant and antispasmodic. The aqueous-methanolic extract of L. stoechas flowers (LS) was studied for its possible anticonvulsant and antispasmodic activities. When tested in mice, LS (600 mg/kg) significantly reduced the severity and increased the latency of convulsions induced by pentylene tetrazole (PTZ). LS likewise reduced PTZ's lethality. LS up to a dose of 600 mg/kg was found devoid of any hypnotic effect in mice, however, animals were found to be dull, calm and relaxed. The sedative effect of the plant extract was confirmed, as it prolonged the pentobarbital sleeping time in mice similar to that of diazepam. In isolated rabbit jejunum preparations, LS caused a dose-dependent (0.1-1.0 mg/ml) relaxation of spontaneous contractions. LS also inhibited K(+)-induced contractions in a similar dose range, thereby suggesting calcium channel blockade. This effect was confirmed when pretreatment of the jejunum preparation with LS produced a dose-dependent shift of the Ca(2+) dose-response curve to the right, similar to the effect of verapamil, a standard calcium channel blocker. These data indicate that the plant extract exhibits anticonvulsant and antispasmodic activities. Its calcium channel blocking property may be mechanistically related to these activities. Its usefulness in folk medicine appears thus to be based on a sound mechanistic background.
PMID: 10904159 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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