LAVANDULA X. INTERMEDIA ‘MARGARET’ – AN ‘AUSSIE’ BEAUTY
L. x Margaret is an Australian lavandin discovered in the mid 1970s, by Joan Townsend while visiting her daughter who was living at the time in an ashram. While Joan is not sure of its exact origins it is thanks to her propagating from this plant that we can now all enjoy its beauty and essential oil. It must be said, that there is nothing more beautiful than the silvery mauve shimmer of this plant in full flower when touched by a summer breeze. It literally sparkles. Margaret is a statuesque plant reaching about 1 meter round when in full flower with an abundance of large lacy pale mauve flower spikes
ESSENTIAL OIL
Margaret is surprisingly floral oil for a lavandin. This sweetness is most apparent in the mid and back notes and it is a feature of the oil which is not completely explicable by looking at its MS/GC data. It is an essential oil which needs to be used to for its sophistication and beauty to be fully appreciated. Having said this the chemistry of the essential oil from the Margaret plant fits closest to the ISO standard for Abriallis, having similar significant levels of both camphor (9.5 -12.8 %) and 1, 8 cineole (13.01 – 15.50%). These compounds along with significant levels of limonene (1.23 – 3.14%) give a fresh green and stimulating citrus note to the traditional sweet lavender aroma contributed by the fairly balanced representation in this oil of both linalool (22.84 – 30.21%) and linalyl acetate (21.49 – 26.34%), a total of around 50%. Grounding this oil and giving aromatic longevity is the earthy herbaceous tow of borneol (2.73 -3.51%) and the tenacious sweetness of ß – caryophyllene and cis ß –ocimene together between (2.5 -4%).
HYDROSOL
The hydrosol derived from the L. x Margaret cultivar is minty and floral in the front notes with hints of honey on the skin in its finishing. As with all our lavandin hydrosols Margaret comes off the still with a pH level well below 4.5.
