''Lavandula multifida'', the fernleaf lavender or Egyptian lavender, is a small plant, sometimes a shrub, native to the southern regions of the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

, including

Iberia The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, Northwest Africa and the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

. The stems are grey and woolly. Leaves are double pinnate. Dark blue or blue violet flowers are borne on long stems held above the foliage. It is grown both as a

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

and as an

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that i ...

. In cooler latitudes it is killed by winter frost, but can be grown as an annual. Cultivars include 'Spanish Eyes'.

References

External links

Mediterranean Plants Identification and Distribution
from the University of Reading
University of Oklahoma Department of Botany & MicrobiologyThe University of Reading
multifida Flora of the Canary Islands Flora of Spain Flora of Sicily Garden plants of Europe Drought-tolerant plants Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Flora of the Mediterranean Basin {{Lamiaceae-stub