Species
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Lavandula dentata L.

French lavender, Gezähnter Lavendel (DE); Alhucema rizada (ES), toothed lavender

Climate known 70 photographs Temperate garden plant
Add one to my plants Sow seed

Every figure on this page is derived from public data by a stated rule and says its source; nothing here is written by a person or a model, except the Wikipedia passage, which is quoted and marked as such. How it is made.

Summary

Lavandula dentata, the fringed lavender or French lavender, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae, native to the Mediterranean basin, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Yemen, and the Arabian Peninsula. Growing to 60 cm (24 in) tall, it has gray-green, linear or lance-shaped leaves with toothed edges and a lightly woolly texture. The long-lasting, narrow spikes of purple flowers, topped with pale violet bracts, first appear in late spring. The whole plant is strongly aromatic with the typical lavender fragrance.

Text from Wikipedia, “Lavandula dentata”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written. Kept separate from everything derived here.

About the genus · Lavandula

Lavandula is a genus of 47 known species of perennial flowering plants in the sage family, Lamiaceae. It is native to regions of the Iberian Peninsula and Mediterranean coastline, the Middle East, extending to the Indian subcontinent.

Text from Wikipedia, “Lavandula”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written.

Family
Lamiaceae
Described by
L.
Native to
Baleares, Spain, Algeria +6
Wild records
1383 in range· 854 open

At a glance

Warmest month
28°C
Aug, mean day; nights 21 °C (CHELSA)
Rain
494mm/yr
9 wet months · peak Oct 69 mm (CHELSA)
Light
14–48DLI
mol/m²/day, winter to summer, open sky (CHELSA shortwave)
In short condensed by rule from the cultivation cards · not written by a person
Grouped as a temperate garden plant by the genus Lavandula, which is reliably one kind of plant (archetype table). Rain rule: a winter growing season, September to February and April in the northern hemisphere (September to February and April at the habitat, northern). Habitat rain 494 mm a year, wettest October at 69 mm, driest July at 6 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere). Open sky over the habitat: 14 to 48 mol/m²/day. Cold floor 3.8 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).
Each sentence is one card's own one-line form, written by the same rule as the card (Its year, Rain, Light, Temperature); the note cannot say what a card does not. Months are given for the northern hemisphere (set your site in Settings to change this), and the habitat's own alongside. The cards · the figures.

Also known as Lavandula dentata var. vulgaris Ging.; Stoechas dentata (L.) Mill.

Cultivation

Grouped as a temperate garden plant by the genus Lavandula, which is reliably one kind of plant (archetype table). The table holds no figure for this group, which spans too much for one minimum; the cold floor is the habitat's alone, and no prose comes from the table.

Its year Rain rule: a winter growing season, September to February and April in the northern hemisphere (September to February and April at the habitat, northern).

This species’ habitat figures, and what two fixed rules read from them.

The rain rule reads a winter growing season: 70% of the year's rain (375 mm of 494 mm) falls in September to February and April, cooler than the year (wet-season mean 14.9 °C against a yearly mean of 17.3 °C). Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere; shifted six months for a southern-hemisphere collection: March to August and October.

Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the envelope cells: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve gives a season to reverse. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain Habitat rain 494 mm a year, wettest October at 69 mm, driest July at 6 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

494 mm a year at the habitat, 375 mm of it September to February and April. Wettest month October at 69 mm, driest July at 6 mm. Across the envelope cells the year's total runs 295 mm to 801 mm (10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year) (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the envelope cells. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light Open sky over the habitat: 14 to 48 mol/m²/day.

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Open sky over the habitat: 14 to 48 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 12, the highest 90th-percentile month 50).

CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Warmth and air Cold floor 3.8 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell is 3.8 °C, the absolute minimum -0.1 °C, 1 frost night in 44 years (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 31.7 °C. Monthly means: coldest night 6.8 °C in January (across the envelope cells 1.6 °C to 10.8 °C), warmest day 28.2 °C in August (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). Cold floor: 3.8 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell (NASA POWER).

NASA POWER daily minima and maxima 1981–2024 at the typical cell, lapse-corrected to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA. The cold floor is the figure named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 57 to 60% across the year (monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the envelope cells.

The figures the cards read from are in Climate below, and where they came from in Natural habitat.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat climate through the yearMean day from 14 °C in Jan to 28 °C in Aug; mean night from 7 °C in Jan to 21 °C in Aug. The cold quarter, Dec to Feb, is the three months around the coldest night. 494 mm of rain a year, most in Oct. The bands show the 10th to 90th percentile across 649 habitat cells. Over 44 years at the typical cell the absolute minimum was -0.1 °C and the 99th-percentile day 31.7 °C; neither is dated to a month. Beneath: daily light integral and relative humidity through the year, each on its own scale.-10°10°20°30°40°frost31.7° 99th-percentile day (undated)-0.1° lowest night in 44 yrs (undated)°C · day and nightcold quarter0255075100125mm rainDLI 14–48RH 57–60 %JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain 10th–90th percentile across 649 habitat cells cold quarter: the three months around the coldest night extremes over 44 years at the typical cell, marked at the edge: undated DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C14 / 11–1514 / 12–1616 / 14–1918 / 16–2121 / 19–2425 / 22–2928 / 25–3228 / 26–3225 / 23–2821 / 19–2317 / 14–1915 / 11–16
Night °C7 / 2–117 / 2–119 / 5–1211 / 7–1414 / 10–1618 / 14–2020 / 17–2321 / 17–2319 / 14–2115 / 10–1811 / 6–158 / 3–12
Rain mm49 / 28–8744 / 28–7740 / 25–6249 / 24–7242 / 19–6816 / 7–416 / 1–2615 / 4–5044 / 18–8669 / 31–11064 / 34–10656 / 25–120
DLI16 / 13–2022 / 19–2531 / 28–3439 / 35–4144 / 40–4648 / 43–5048 / 43–5042 / 37–4533 / 29–3724 / 21–2817 / 14–2114 / 12–18
RH %59 / 56–6259 / 56–6257 / 54–6157 / 53–6158 / 52–6257 / 50–6358 / 47–6359 / 48–6360 / 51–6360 / 56–6359 / 56–6259 / 56–63

Each figure is the median across the 649 grid cells holding the 1375 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. Extremes and elevation were read at the typical cell 1048:3570 (37.575, -1.475). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum -0.1 °C, 1st-percentile night 3.8 °C, 99th-percentile day 31.7 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Envelope: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 649 distinct grid cells holding the 1375 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1048:3570 (its coldest month's mean night nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 37.50_-1.250, lapse-corrected +197 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 321 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across every in-range record's cell, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeBaleares, Spain, Algeria, Morocco, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Yemen· introduced: Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Sicilia, Tunisia, Canary Is., Cape Verde, Madeira, Norfolk Is., New Zealand North
Kew's description“subshrub” · “subtropical”· quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Map marker37.626, -0.997 · in the densest population, 626 records (45% of those in range)
Evidence usedThe map marker and the climate envelope rest on all 1383 georeferenced records inside the native range; the map shows only the 854 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 84 km away. 285 records outside the range (gardens, roadsides, misidentifications) ignored. 8 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km and stay on the map but off the climate.
The map markerthe map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population of the 1383 in-range records; it decides nothing.

Photographs

Lavandula dentataLavandula dentataLavandula dentataLavandula dentataLavandula dentataLavandula dentataLavandula dentataLavandula dentata

Photographs: (c) Rob Williams, some rights reserved (CC BY); (c) Juanvi, some rights reserved (CC BY) (2); (c) Tony Rebelo, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) (2); (c) Johnny C, some rights reserved (CC BY) (3).

Photographs: iNaturalist did not answer when this page was built; what is shown came from the sources that did.

Papers naming this species

Works whose title or abstract names Lavandula dentata, most cited first, from OpenAlex (CC0). A mention, not a cultivation source: nothing on this page is drawn from them.

Anti-inflammatory activity of hydroalcoholic extracts of Lavandula dentata L. and Lavandula stoechas L.
Francesca Algieri, Alba Rodríguez‐Nogales, Teresa Vezza, José Garrido‐Mesa (2016) · Journal of Ethnopharmacology
In vitro antiplasmodial, antileishmanial and antitrypanosomal activities of selected medicinal plants used in the traditional Arabian Peninsular region
Nawal M. Al-Musayeib, Ramzi A. Mothana, An Matheeussen, Paul Cos (2012) · BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Étude ethnobotanique des plantes médicinales dans le Parc National de Talassemtane (Rif occidental du Maroc)
Mariam Rhattas, Allal Douira, Lahcen Zidane (2016) · Journal of Applied Biosciences
Endophytic culturable bacteria colonizing Lavandula dentata L. plants: Isolation, characterization and evaluation of their plant growth-promoting activities
Sofia I.A. Pereira, Cristina M. Monteiro, A. L. Salgado Vega, Paula M. L. Castro (2015) · Ecological Engineering
Lavandula dentata L.: Phytochemical Analysis, Antioxidant, Antifungal and Insecticidal Activities of Its Essential Oil
Youness El Abdali, Abdelkrim Agour, Aimad Allali, Mohammed Bourhia (2022) · Plants
Native bacteria promote plant growth under drought stress condition without impacting the rhizomicrobiome
Elisabeth Armada, Márcio Fernandes Alves Leite, Almudena Medina, Rosario Azcón (2018) · FEMS Microbiology Ecology
Análise de taninos totais em plantas aromáticas e medicinais cultivadas no Nordeste do Rio Grande do Sul
Márcia Regina Pansera, Ana Cristina Atti dos Santos, K. Paese, Ronaldo Adelfo Wasum (2003) · Revista Brasileira de Farmacognosia
Synergistic antimicrobial activity of two binary combinations of marjoram, lavender, and wild thyme essential oils
Wessal Ouedrhiri, Balouiri Mounyr, El Houssaine Harki, Sandrine Moja (2017) · International Journal of Food Properties
Physico-Chemical Compositions and Antimicrobial Activity of Essential Oil of Eastern Moroccan Lavandula dentata
B. Imelouane, Ali Elbachiri, M. Ankit, H. Benzeid (2009) · International Journal of Agriculture and Biology
Antifungal Activity and Chemical Composition of Seven Essential Oils to Control the Main Seedborne Fungi of Cucurbits
Marwa Moumni, Gianfranco Romanazzi, Basma Najar, Luisa Pistelli (2021) · Antibiotics

Similar habitat climate the 6 species whose habitat climate is nearest this one's: mean day and night, month by month, and rain on a log scale, in calendar order, so a habitat with the same seasons six months out is far, not near. Nothing else counts: not range, not family.

Other Lavandula 3 in the reference

History & registers

Where this page came from built 2026-09-20 · dossier v2 · node
gbif.species answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.synonyms answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.vernacular answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
wcvp.distribution answered
gbif.occurrences answeredGBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.3h4zam
climate answered
wikidata answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
wikipedia answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped
inat.taxon not asked
inat.photos.wild answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped
inat.photos.cultivated nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: filled 2026-09-20
commons nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
gbif.media answered
openalex answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped

Every upstream is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, or refused. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 90 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.