On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. 47 known species of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae. Many members of the genus are cultivated extensively in temperate climates as ornamental plants for garden and landscape use, for use as culinary herbs, and also commercially for the extraction of essential oils. The genus includes annual or short-lived herbaceous perennial plants, lavender ribbon cookies shrub-like perennials, subshrubs or small shrubs.

Leaf shape is diverse across the genus. In most species, the leaves are covered in fine hairs or indumentum, which normally contain essential oils. Flowers are contained in whorls, held on spikes rising above the foliage, the spikes being branched in some species. Some species produce colored bracts at the tips of the inflorescences. The flowers may be blue, violet, or lilac in the wild species, occasionally blackish purple or yellowish.

The latter was subsequently transferred to Anisochilus. One of the first modern major classifications was that of Dorothy Chaytor in 1937 at Kew. The six sections she proposed for 28 species still left many intermediates that could not easily be assigned. Subgenus Lavandula is mainly of woody shrubs with entire leaves.

It contains the principal species grown as ornamental plants and for oils. They are found across the Mediterranean region to northeast Africa and western Arabia. Subgenus Fabricia consists of shrubs and herbs, and it has a wide distribution from the Atlantic to India. Subgenus Sabaudia constitutes two species in the southwest Arabian peninsula and Eritrea, which are rather distinct from the other species, and are sometimes placed in their own genus Sabaudia. In addition, there are numerous hybrids and cultivars in commercial and horticultural usage. The first major clade corresponds to subgenus Lavandula, and the second Fabricia. The Sabaudia group is less clearly defined.