Is Lavender A Herb?

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Last Updated on March 24, 2022 by Cristina

Is lavender a herb? This question may be on your mind and we will answer that in this post. Lavender is a lovely woody flowering perennial plant also popularly known to be part of the herb garden. Furthermore, lavender produces beautiful flowers with lovely fragrances and woody stems.

Even with its woody stem, chefs find it desirable to add it to some of their recipes. For this reason, it is considered to be a herb.  Hence, do you think lavender is a herb? The answer to this question and more is what you will get in this article.

The lavender plant, which is also called “Lavandula” still, remains one of the ancient and most popular to the human race. It is native to the northern part of Africa and also the mountain parts of the Mediterranean.

Now, let’s dive in further on getting answers to whether lavender is a herb.

Is Lavender A Herb?

Only plants with soft stems are considered herbs according to standard biology. But the description of a lavender plant is woody and rigid firm in structure.

However, lavender is still considered by some people as an herb because it is used for culinary and medicinal use. But the ideal description to use for lavender is a flowering shrub.

The Lavender plant is made up of whorled flowers, herbaceous or woody stems, pinnate leaves as well as an intense aroma.

Lavender Is A Herb

In essence, you can’t make a decision of whether lavender plants, in general, are a type of herb. You can only decide which is which by categorizing where a particular lavender plant belongs to. This can be done by checking how hard the stem is.

Mostly and biologically, the lavender plant is a bush that produces flowers and can be called a shrub. If you check and the stem is soft, green in color, and can be incorporated in a recipe, then you can say it is a herb only according to culinary terms and not technically. However, if the lavender plant’s stem is woody, you can say it’s a shrub.

Due to the uses, and not the form, of the well-known members of the lavender family, they are called herbs. For its powerful aroma and being edible, it is generally called a herb in the culinary world. Nowadays, lavender plants are highly planted in many countries.

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Lavender Uses – Is Lavender A Herb

The planting of lavender plants is highly beneficial in terms of deriving essential oils, production of perfume, medicinal purpose, adding to recipes, and ornament. You will mostly find lavender plants with purple flowers, while possibly some produce white, blue, and pink flowers.

Another reason why lavender can be called a herb is because of its numerous medicinal uses. It can also be used to prepare, aromatic and healthy green tea which is also refreshingly tasty.

Dried Lavender Flowers – 1 Pack

Is Lavender A Herb

Bottom line is, lavender can be considered as a herb as well as a Shrub or flowering plant.

In terms of biology it can be called shrub while in terms of culinary, it can be called herb. So in essence, simply put, it is a lovely flowering plant that has the quality of a herb.

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The Common Types Of Lavender – Is Lavender A Herb

  • Spanish lavender (Lavandula stoechas): this type of lavender plant, as well as a few others, can thrive in mild summer or winter. The Spanish lavender is also sometimes called Butterfly lavender, Ballerina, or French lavender. During its blossoming season, the flowers are usually white, then as the plant matures, they turn to pink-purple. You will also find sprouts that are ear-shaped that sometimes turn out to be of different colors compared to the flowers. Spanish lavender has fragrant leaves, hence it is cultivated for the extraction of essential oils.
  • English lavender (Lavandula Angustifolia): Amongst the commonly known varieties of lavender is the English lavender. It is also “Munstead”. It is made up of a dark purple that is referred to as lavender with green foliage. However, the purple color of the flowers will still be intact when the lavender plant dies. This is the reason why this plant comes off as being good to be used as an option for bouquets, artifacts, crafts, or opt for a home or event décor.

  • Portuguese lavender (Lavandula latifolia): One of the types of lavender chefs use for culinary purposes is the Spike lavender which is known as the Portuguese lavender. It is the reason why some people wonder if lavender is a herb. It has this sweet aroma that captures the attention of bees, leafless stems, and lilac flowers that are pale. The most fragrant lavender can be gotten from crossing the English lavender and Portuguese lavender. The plant is called Lavandin.

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Companion Plants That Are Best For Lavender

You can grow some other types of plants besides lavender as this can also help increase the beautification of your garden. Apart from beautifying a garden, lavender plants are plants that can be used as natural pest control.

Due to the fragrance of lavender plants, they can be used for repelling aphids. Hence, they are companion plants that are the best for cabbage, cucumbers, broccoli, and other aphids-infested plants.

You can grow these plants around lavender plants:

  • Roses
  • Wild indigo
  • Aster
  • Baby’s breath

Endeavor the plants you’re planting around lavender have the same soil and temperature requirements.

Companion Plants That Are Best For Lavender

Conclusion On Is Lavender A Herb?

Conclusively, we can say lavender is a plant with so many uses, which is needed for one purpose or the other.  But lavender is ideally regarded as a flowering shrub. However, some still refer to lavender as herb and this is mostly because of its medicinal use.

FAQ’s

Is lavender a herb or a flower

Ideally, lavender should be referred to as a flowering shrub. But it can serve as medicinal and culinary purposes so, for this reason, it can be considered as a herb. However, if you check and the stem is soft, green in color, and can be incorporated in a recipe, then you can say it is a herb only according to culinary terms and not technically.

Is lavender a herb or spice

For its powerful aroma and being edible, it is generally called a herb in the culinary world. Nowadays, lavender plants are highly planted in many countries. The planting of lavender plants is highly beneficial in terms of deriving essential oils, medicinal purposes, adding to recipes, and more.

What type of herb is lavender

The Portuguese lavender, which is also known as the spike lavender, is considered a herb in the culinary world for its sweet aroma that captures the attention of bees, leafless stems, and lilac flowers that are pale.

What is lavender herb good for

A good reason why lavender can be regarded as a herb is that it serves as numerous medicinal purposes. It can also be used to prepare, aromatic and healthy green tea which is also refreshingly tasty. It can be incorporated into recipes in the culinary world.

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