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cotton lavendar
Santolina chamaecyparissus
29.7602, -95.3694
Field Notes
Description:
grown in my yard as border plant, very fragrant.
Cotton Lavender or Gray Santolina (Santolina chamaecyparissus, Linn., syn. S. incana, Lam.) is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, native to the western and central Mediterranean region.
Lavender Cotton, Santolina chamaecyparissus, is an interesting ornamental herb that grows to about 2 foot tall. It's considered an evergreen shrub that is hardy to 0 degrees (-18C). Santolina has lovely soft grayish foliage and small yellow flowers. Many times you'll see it used in formal herb gardens but it can be adapted for many landscape options. Lavender cotton has many good points: it's drought tolerant, ornamental, easy to grow and the foliage can be dried and used to repel moths.
Notes:
Cotton Lavender has many potential uses. Most commonly, the flowers and leaves are made into a decoction used to expel intestinal parasites. An oil used in perfumery can also be extracted from the plant. Branches may be hung up in wardrobes to repel insect, and leaves are also suitable for use in pot pourri and in herbal tobacco substitutes.
This aromatic plant has been grown in English Gardens since the Sixteenth century, where it was often used as a space filler in knot gardens or to edge paths and walks.
Nicholas Culpepper writing in 1649 assures us that it could be used as an antidote for all sorts of poisonous bites.
However its main use was to deter moths from munching their way through clothing - especially woollen clothing. It was mixed with English Lavender or Rosemary and put into muslin bags and hung amongst clothes – and is still used for this purpose today.
Despite its name it is not related at all to English Lavender and is a member of the daisy family.
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