Wild lavender in a summer meadow by Silva Wischeropp

About "Wild lavender in a summer meadow"

by Silva Wischeropp

About the artwork

This summery nature shot was taken at midday on 2 July 2018 with the Nikon D90 camera (lens: SIGMA 18.0-50.0 mm f/2.8).
True lavender (Lavandula angustifolia), also known as narrow-leaved lavender or lavender for short, is a plant species from the lavender genus (Lavandula) within the labiate family (Lamiaceae).
It is mainly used as an ornamental plant or for the extraction of fragrances; true lavender is also used as a medicinal plant.
True lavender is an aromatic, small shrub, also known as a dwarf shrub, which grows to a height of 100 to 150, rarely up to 200 centimetres. The above-ground parts of the plant have grey felt-like hairs. The branches are ascending, upright and strongly branched, stiffly upright and unbranched or they bear short shoots.

The opposite leaves are stalkless. The simple leaf blade is lanceolate, oblong or linear at a length of 40 to 50 millimetres and narrows at both ends. They are blunt, with entire margins and more or less curled at the edges. When young, the upper and lower surfaces of the leaves are covered with grey felt-like hairs, later they become bare.

The lavender is native to the coastal regions of the Mediterranean.
Most of the original populations are found over a large area in eastern Spain, otherwise the only known locations are in the south-east corner of France and neighbouring areas in Italy, as well as an Italian location near Bologna. There are further reports from several French departments.
The original populations are located in mountainous regions that are not suitable for agricultural use.