226 
THE DICTIONARY OF GARDENING, 
Lachnostoma—continued. 
many-flowered. Leaves opposite, often cordate. The un- 
dermentioned species—probably the only one in culti- 
vation — requires culture similar to Gonolobus (which 
see). 
L. maritimus (sea-loving). fl., corolla green at back and edge, 
purple in the middle; umbels sessile, few - flowered, between 
the petioles. Juneand July. Z. downy, cordate, acuminate, with 
the recess of the base open ; petioles as long as the leaves. Stems 
densely downy backwards. Caracas, &c. An inelegant twiner. 
(B. R. 931, under name of Gonolobus maritimus.) 
LACINIATE. Jagged; cut or divided into unequal 
segments. 
LACISTEMACEZ. A natural order of shrubs or 
small trees, all natives of tropical America, extending 
from Brazil and Peru as far as the West Indies and 
Mexico. Inflorescence of axillary, solitary, or fascicled 
spikes; perianth of two to six (usually four) petaloid 
segments, persistent. Leaves alternate, shortly petiolate, 
Lackey Moth—continued. 
cocoon, with which a sulphury powder is plentifully 
mixed. When nearly mature, the larvæ are gaudily 
coloured—the head is blue-grey, with two black spots, 
like eyes; the next segment is blue-grey, with four black 
spots; the other segments are alike, striped with white 
down the middle of the back, and with orange-red, blue, 
and black, on the sides. The pupa is smooth and brown. 
The moths emerge in July. The Lackey Caterpillars 
seldom do serious harm, except when they attack the 
Apple-tree; and they never seem to be so hurtful in 
England as they are at times in France and Germany. 
They have not been recorded from Scotland. 
Remedies. The best is hand-picking. The eggs, when 
noticed on the branches, should be destroyed; but the 
best success follows the removal of branches bearing the 
webs and the young larve, since these webs are readily 
seen. Something should be held below, to catch larve 
Fig. 366. LACKEY MOTH (BOMBYX NEUSTRIA). 
entire, penniveined; stipules none. The order contains 
but one genus, Lacistema, and sixteen species. 
LACKEY MOTH (Bombyx Neustria). These insects 
vary considerably in colour, but the upper wings are 
usually brown, tinged with red or yellow, crossed by 
a darker band margined with pale bars; the fringes 
along the hind margin are alternately pale and dark. 
The lower wings are usually red-brown, with an in- 
distinct paler crossbar. The female lays her eggs on 
the twigs of various trees, such as Apple. Oak, Elm, 
&c., in spirally-arranged groups, each about jin. long 
(see Fig. 366). When the larve emerge from the 
eggs in spring, they are black. For a considerable 
time, they live in society, spinning a web over the 
branches and leaves. From the web they go out to feed 
on the neighbouring branches, but return to it in wet 
weather, and in the evening; and often they may be 
seen sunning themselves on its surface. When nearly 
full fed, they wander apart from one another, to seek out 
a suitable place—between leaves, among rubbish, in 
erevices of bark, or elsewhere—to spin an oblong yellow 
that may drop off. They may also be shaken off the 
branches, and crushed below the trees. The ground 
should be kept clear of weeds and other cover for such 
as fall, or are seeking for a safe shelter in which to 
spin their cocoons, and to become pupæ. 
LACOSTEA. Included under Trichomanes (which 
see). ` 
LACTESCENT. Containing lac, or milk. 
LACTUCA (the old Latin name, from lac, milk; in 
reference to the milky juice). Lettuce. Including Mulge- 
dium. Oxkp. Composite. A genus comprising about sixty 
species of hardy, and usually weedy, annuals or perennials, 
natives of the temperate regions of the Northern hemi- 
sphere and South Africa, only a few of which are worth 
growing. Flower-heads blue or yellow; involucre of few 
bracts, in several series, placed upon a flat, naked receptacle. 
Fruits somewhat flattened, surmounted by a long, slender 
beak, and a pappus of long, silky, silvery hairs. Leaves 
radical or alternate, entire, largely dentate or pinnatifid; 
margins setose-ciliate or naked. Stems erect, branching. 
Lactucas thrive in a deep but light or sandy loam, and 
