Morphological and biochemical characteristics of some taxa of Lavandula L.

Abstract

Among the various species within the Lavandula genus, Lavandula angustifolia (true lavender) and Lavandula × intermedia (lavandin) are considered the most significant, because they are grown both for their beauty as ornamental plants and for their essential oils, which are widely used in cosmetics, perfumery, and aromatherapy. This paper presents the results of a study carried out on plants in their second year of cultivation, from two varieties of lavender (`Little Lottie` and `Munstead`) and one variety of lavandin (`Grosso`), grown under the ecological conditions of NE Romania (city of Iași). The plants' decorative aspect (by determining some morphological characters) and the chemical composition of the organic extract obtained from the flowers were analyzed. Lavandin showed the highest growth in height (88.5 cm) and diameter (141 cm), as well as the highest number of inflorescences/plant (570 infl./pl.). The lavender varieties had 38.4-56.7 cm heights and bush diameters of 61.2-70 cm, with the highest values in `Munstead` and an almost identical number of inflorescences/plant (199.4-200.1). The chemical composition, evaluated by GC-FID-MS showed the presence of higher linalool amounts (maximum in lavandin), linalyl acetate, and lavandulyl acetate (maximum in `Munstead`), eucalyptol (maximum in lavandin), and camphor (only in lavandin).