Lavandula angustifolia, known in English as true lavender or English lavender and in French as
lavande vraie is a small (in Toronto, at least) perennial shrub native to the western Mediterranean, especially northern Spain. It is famous for its fragrant greyish-green foliage and small light purple flowers.
Although lavender can grow to be 1 or 2 metres high, here in Toronto I find that it dies back quite a bit each year and is seldom as tall as 50 cm. It is considered evergreen but in Toronto the foliage, while it stays on all winter, dies and turns grey.