From the 1940s, farmers of the Valensole plateau in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department began cultivating lavandin intensively. This plant has a less refined scent than lavender but is more profitable and better suited to industrial needs. Present in the wild, lavandin has three main varieties (Abrial, Grosso, and Super) and constitutes a natural hybridization with fuller and more regular ears than lavender. The plant is sterile and, therefore, requires cloning as it cannot be propagated through sexual reproduction.