French lavender
Lavandula stoechas
Family · Lamiaceae · Harmless
The purple that covers Portuguese scrubland in spring. Recognised by the two ear-like petals standing at the top of the flower spike, which no other Iberian lavender wears so plainly.
Scrubland · Pine woods · Uplands
Also known astopped lavender, Spanish lavender
How to tell it
A short, compact spike topped by two purple bracts like ears. A strong camphor smell, harsher than garden lavender. Acid soils, and one of the first plants back after a fire.
What it is confused with
Rosemary
Salvia rosmarinus
A confusion of names, not shapes. In Portugal rosmaninho is this lavender and alecrim is the needle-leaved shrub. In Brazil the names swap over, which is where the mix-up comes from.
Open sheet →What it is for
Traditionally used in infusions and to scent linen and houses. It is also one of the country's best nectar plants: rosmaninho honey is a product in its own right.
With documented traditional uses. Not a therapeutic indication and not a dose.