The history of lavender

by Camille Comet - Docteur en pharmacie
Published on 28, November 2023

Lavender has been part of the rural economy for centuries, particularly in the dry mountain areas of Provence. Shepherds have been gathering lavender here since the 18th century. Lavender cultivation began in the early 20th century to meet the strong demand from Grasse, the world’s perfume capital.

The history of lavender

Lavender was recognized as a medicinal plant by the Romans. It was used throughout the Mediterranean basin and classified as a precious plant by Roman naturalists.

In the Middle Ages, lavender was used to combat infectious diseases. In those days, people believed that bad smells spread disease. Lavender was cultivated in monastery gardens alongside other medicinal plants known as “simples”. In those days, plants were the only elements used in pharmacopoeia.

In the texts, lavender harvesting appears in the 14th century. It was thanks to the development of the faculties of Marseille and Montpellier from the 13th century onwards, and the research carried out by academics into the benefits of plants, that lavender and other simple plants began to flourish. They were then used in various forms, notably as essential oils and floral waters.

The rise of lavender

It was from the 18th century onwards that lavender really took off. The town of Grasse played an important role in this expansion.
This town, with its pastoral hinterland, was involved in leather processing. From the 18th century onwards, the fashion for scented leather arrived, and this is when things changed. Tanners hired perfumers to scent their leather, but the perfumers soon became independent of the tanners. In the hinterland, lavender-gathering developed, with farmers of course, but also women and even children, selling the lavender flowers as raw material to the perfumers of Grasse. This activity brought new income to the most modest, especially as lavender grew by itself on arid, uncultivable land. In the hinterland, lavender curbed the rural exodus of the time.

At the beginning of the 20th century, France was at its height and so was lavender. As towns grew and perfume consumption increased, so did demand, the number of pickers and quantities. The communes set up quarries on the lavender hills. Little by little, the farmers organized themselves and distilled their harvest directly on the hills, using mobile stills.
As the essential oil could be kept for several years, it was sold at the best prices, providing a substantial income in good years and enabling the modernization of farms.
Between 1920 and 1930, harvesting was at its peak, teams of Piedmontese workers were hired, and picking sites were tended, sometimes ploughed and often fertilized, all to ensure better harvests and yields. Thanks to the hand of man, wild picking is simply disappearing little by little.

Around 1930, lavender cultivation began to expand. A few years earlier, cutters noticed more vigorous plants. Research began, and lavandin emerged with higher yields and greater resistance, but fewer medicinal properties, no matter, since it was destined for the perfume industry.

Lavandin is a sterile hybrid of lavender, so cuttings are essential.
It was then that mechanization arrived. Félix Esseric invents the first harvester and stills.

In the early 50s, farming moved to the plains and plateaus.

THE DECLINE OF WILD LAVENDER

Synthetic products made their appearance, and less expensive lavandin replaced fine lavender.
Pickers gradually disappeared, as did the quarries. With the rural exodus, the garrigues gradually closed and the secrets of fine lavender-gathering were lost…

A little is grown in the fields because it is still useful for luxury perfumery, phyto and aromatherapy, but very little is developed at this time, as preference is given to medicine.

But there are still a handful of die-hards who continue to gather wild plants, maintaining the environment and encouraging a return to alternative medicine. More and more people are turning to plants as a means of returning to the “natural” way of life, and this is helping the picking profession to make a gentle comeback.

A FEW FACTS AND FIGURES ABOUT LAVENDER

Since 1980 and the outbreak of a poorly explained disease known as “premature lavender decline”, the cultivation of True lavender in France has plummeted and even disappeared in certain regions, such as the Ardèche and Quercy.

However, 50% of the world’s production remains French. Other producing countries are Bulgaria, Ukraine and even China.

In France, around 14,000 hectares of lavandin are grown, compared with 3,500 hectares of lavender, and 90% of the world’s lavandin production is French.