Maple's Garden
Lavender (French)
Genus: Lavandula.
Species: Lavandula stoechas.
Lavandula stoechas (French Lavender, Spanish Lavender, Stoechas Lavender, or Topped Lavender) occurs naturally in theMediterranean region. A perennial shrub, it usually grows to 30-100 cm tall and wide. The leaves are 1-4 cm long, greyish tomentose. The flowers are pinkish-purple (lavender-coloured), produced on spikes 2-3 cm long at the top of slender leafless stems 10-30 cm long; each flower is subtended by a bract 4-8 mm long. At the top of the spike are a number of much larger, sterile bracts (no flowers between them), 10-50 mm long and bright lavender purple (rarely white).
In Northern Hemisphere gardens it is somewhat hardier than Common Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)
