Witnessed by: Western · Unani
Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia), of the Lamiaceae (Labiatae) family. Small evergreen shrub of grey, needle-like leaves and violet flower spikes; native range: Dry, sunny uplands of the western Mediterranean. Globally recognized as ustukhuddus in Arabic, and true lavender, English lavender, garden lavender in English. The part used is flowering spikes and their essential oil. The flowers give a clean, sweet, camphor-touched perfume; the taste is warm, aromatic and faintly bitter.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
LAVENDER
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Lavender
- Scientific name
- Lavandula angustifolia Mill.
- Family
- Lamiaceae (Labiatae)
Form
- Part used
- flowering spikes and their essential oil
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Western
- aromatic · pungent · bitter
- Unani
- pungent · aromatic
Temperature
- Western
- warm
- Unani
- hot & dry (1st degree)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Western
- nerves · nervous system · digestion
- Unani
- brain · nerves · heart
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Western
- nervine, carminative, antispasmodic, antidepressant, mildly sedative, antiseptic
- Unani
- muqawwi-e-dimagh (brain tonic), mufarreh (exhilarant), muharrik-e-asab (nervine stimulant), munaqqi-e-dimagh (deobstruent of the brain)
Cautions
Contraindications: large medicinal or internal-oil doses in pregnancy
Toxicity: the neat essential oil can irritate skin and, swallowed in quantity, is toxic
Interactions
- Western
- sedatives / CNS depressants: additive sedation and drowsiness
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