# Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)

**Lavandula*; Greek *stoichas**

**Known today as.** *Lavandula angustifolia* and French lavender, *L. stoechas*.

Kind: Plant  
Qualities: Hot and dry (Galenic tradition).

## What was it used for?

A “cephalic,” warming and drying the brain: for giddiness, palsy, and the falling sickness; its distilled water and oil perfumed linen and the sickroom.

## What does modern science say?

Its oil, rich in linalool, calms mildly; capsules of lavender oil have performed modestly against anxiety in controlled trials.

## Pharmacognosy and toxicology

- **linalool**: 
- **linalyl acetate**: 

**Mechanism.** Linalool reduces the release of glutamate and acts on voltage-gated calcium channels; an oral preparation of the oil, Silexan, has reduced anxiety in several controlled trials, in one as well as lorazepam.

**Dose.** No serious harm; the oil on the skin of boys was linked to breast growth in a few reported cases.

**Standing.** Silexan is licensed in Germany for restlessness and anxious mood.

## What lore surrounds it?

Its name is traditionally linked to the Latin *lavare*, to wash, for its long use in the bath and the laundry.

## What did the older authorities say?

**Dioscorides.** Names *stoichas* after the Stoechades, the islands off the coast of Gaul where it grew, and gives it for the chest.

## Sources

- Dioscorides, *De materia medica*.
- Gerard, J. (1597). *The Herball*.
- Grieve, M. *A Modern Herbal*, “Lavenders.” As published on botanical.com.
- Woelk, H., and Schläfke, S. (2010). “A multi-center, double-blind, randomised study of the lavender oil preparation Silexan in comparison to lorazepam for generalized anxiety disorder.” *Phytomedicine* 17.
- Kasper, S., et al. (2010). “Silexan, an orally administered *Lavandula* oil preparation, is effective in the treatment of subsyndromal anxiety disorder.” *International Clinical Psychopharmacology* 25.

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*Lavender.* In *Materia Medica*, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1, revised 2026-09-25. The Thinking Press. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/lavender

Historical description, not medical advice.