The Stoechas Lavender (Lavandula stoechas)

Also called Spanish Lavender, this fragrant lavender plant blooms in late spring to early summer. Its violet petals or bracts appear like a silky purple butterfly sitting on top of the flower head.

While their tall, thin and famous cousin, the Lavendula angustifolia, is cultivated in large fields elsewhere in Provence, you will find the Stoechas Lavender growing wildly in small patches along the footpaths by the Cap du Dramont, in the Esterel Mountain Range, in the Maures, in the Golden Islands of Hyères. It thrives on their acid soils.