Medicinal and aromatic plants – industrial profiles

Historical perspective: a brief history of the taxonomy of the genus
It is clear that 
Lavandula
was known to the earliest botanical writers and the first written
accounts of lavenders can be found in the writings of the early Greek scholars such as
Theophrastus (
c
. 370–285 
BC
). The genus is frequently mentioned in many herbals and other
botanical books although the first monograph of the genus, 
De Lavandula
, was not published
until 1780 (Lundmark, 1780). This work recognised five species and eight varieties.

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The taxonomy of the genus 
Lavandula 
L.
3
The second monograph of the genus 
Histoire Naturelle des Lavandes
(Gingins, 1826), was of
great significance and is still a valuable work today. His monograph enumerated twelve species
along with descriptions, geographical distributions, properties and uses. His most important
contribution was the recognition of groupings of species within the genus and the erection of an
infrageneric classification of three sections.
By the time of the third and most recent monograph, A 
Taxonomic Study of the Genus
Lavandula
(Chaytor, 1937), a substantial number of new species and varieties had been described
and her revision bought much of this information together for the first time. This account 
recognises twenty-eight species plus many infraspecific taxa arranged in five sections. A new
species, 
L. somaliensis
, was described, many new combinations were made and a new section
Subnuda
was erected.
Since Chaytor’s account there has been no full generic treatment although a number of 
useful accounts of various groups have been published. Collectively these works have contributed
much to our knowledge of the genus and have been incorporated into this account. Some of the
most notable works include, a revision of section 
Stoechas
(Rozeira, 1949), the genus 
Lavandula
in
Arabia and tropical NE Africa (Miller, 1985) describing five new species from the area and on
the taxa native to the Iberian Peninsula (Suarez-Cervera and Seoane-Camba, 1986, 1989).