Lavandula pedunculata Cav.

TSO logo

Sponsor this page

For information about how you could sponsor this page, see How You Can Help

Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Lavandula pedunculata' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/lavandula/lavandula-pedunculata/). Accessed 2024-03-29.

Glossary

calcareous
Relating to lime- or chalk-rich soils or water.
corolla
The inner whorl of the perianth. Composed of free or united petals often showy.
inflorescence
Flower-bearing part of a plant; arrangement of flowers on the floral axis.
linear
Strap-shaped.
spike
Inflorescence in which flowers sessile on the main axis.
subspecies
(subsp.) Taxonomic rank for a group of organisms showing the principal characters of a species but with significant definable morphological differentiation. A subspecies occurs in populations that can occupy a distinct geographical range or habitat.
variety
(var.) Taxonomic rank (varietas) grouping variants of a species with relatively minor differentiation in a few characters but occurring as recognisable populations. Often loosely used for rare minor variants more usefully ranked as forms.

References

There are no active references in this article.

Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Lavandula pedunculata' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/lavandula/lavandula-pedunculata/). Accessed 2024-03-29.

An evergreen shrub 112 to 212 ft high; the leaves, stems, and flower-stalks covered with a fine grey down. Leaves linear, 12 to 112 in. long, 116 to 18 in. wide, margins recurved. Main flower-stalk 4 to 12 in. long, four-angled, bearing the flowers at the top in a dense spike 12 to 114 in. long and 12 to 58 in. wide. Bracts violet-purple, broadly wedge-shaped, 38 in. wide, downy, margined with hairs; they constitute the most attractive part of the inflorescence. Of the flower itself only the deep purple corolla shows and it is only 18 in. or a little more across. The spike is surmounted by a tuft of violet-purple, linear-oblong, leaflike bracts which are up to 112 in. long and 14 in. wide.

L. pedunculata is a variable species distributed from the Atlantic Islands through Spain and Portugal and N. Africa to the S. Balkans and Asia Minor; but in its typical state, as described above, it is mainly confined to Spain. It is closely related to L. stoechas (with which it was associated as a variety by Linnaeus and other botanists), but its spike of clustered flowers is shorter, comparatively broader, and borne on a much longer main-stalk; the terminal tuft of bracts also is longer, and the bracts composing it are narrower. In general aspect the two plants are much the same. On the whole this appears to be the handsomest of the lavenders, but unfortunately is not really hardy with us. It grows wild up to elevations of 4,800 ft in Spain, often in arid calcareous localities. Probably its tenderness with us is due as much to lack of summer sunshine as to winter cold. It should be grown at the foot of a sunny wall where it can conveniently be covered with a mat in times of severe frost. It flowers from June to August.

L. viridis L’Hérit. – Leaves and stems covered with rough, greenish hairs. Flowers white, bracts white or greenish white. S. Portugal and Madeira. It is intermediate botanically between L. pedunculata and L. stoechas.

From the Supplement (Vol. V)

This is now placed under L. stoechas as a subspecies.