Lavandula pubescens, the downy lavender, is a species of flowering, aromatic herbaceous shrub in the family Lamiaceae. Its native range is from the SE. Mediterranean to the Western Arabian Peninsula.[1]
Lavandula pubescens is an erect, branching, fragrant perennial herb, with slender, square, hairy stems. Leaves are broad, bipinnate, with linear segments. Panicles are long and slender, with 2-flowered whorls. Bracts are ovate, measuring about 1mm in length. The calyx is the same length as the bract; teeth are small, deltoid. The corolla-tube is a little longer than the calyx.[2]
The native range of L. pubescens is the south-eastern Mediterranean to the western Arabian Peninsula. It grows mostly in desert or dry shrubland.
Lavandula pubescens is one of five Lavandula species growing wild in Yemen. The plant is used in Yemeni traditional medicine,[3] where it is believed to have sedative, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, anti-depressive, anti-amnesia, and anti-obesity properties.[4]