AN ENCYCLOPADIA 
247 
OF HORTI CULTURE. 
Ledum continued. 
ustre .* A. white; stamens ten, longer than the 
W Doct ead May L. foet with pin oie marine. clothed 
with rusty tomentum beneath. h. 2ft. Northern hemisphere, 
1762. A smaller and narrower-leaved species than L. latifolium. 
(L. B. C. 560.) 
LEEA (commemorative of James Lee, 1715-1795, a 
well-known nurseryman at Hammersmith, who did a good 
deal to popularise the Linnean system). ORD. Ampelidee. 
A genus of about a score species of stove shrubs or small 
trees, natives of tropical Asia and Africa, and the Mas- 
carene Islands (rare in Australia). Flowers red, yellow, 
or green; inflorescence corymbosely cymose. Leaves alter- 
nate, usually very large, simple, or one, two, or three- 
pinnate. Tendrils absent. Leeas require a rich loam, 
and succeed best in a moist stove. Some of them are 
much grown in the tropics for the beauty of their fruits. 
Under cultivation, however, in this country, but few are 
worth growing. L. amabilis is a very handsome foliage 
plant. 
L. amabilis (lovely).* Z. unequally pinnate, on long chan- 
nelled leafstalks; stipules large, leafy ; leaflets in two or three 
pairs, stipellate, all more or less lanceolate, rounded at the base, 
acute or acuminate, sparingly serrate; upper surface of velvety 
texture, and deep bronzy: colour, with a rather broad 
central white stripe irre y indented at the margin; lower 
surface 3 with a translucent central green stripe. 
Borneo, 1880. See Fig. 385. (G. C. n. s., xvii. 495.) 
L. coccinea (scarlet). H. scarlet, in dense cymes. Summer. 
293 abr. pte ering Probably one of the dwarfest 
of Leeas; it commences to flower when about lft. high. 
LEE CHEE. See Nephelium Litchi. 
LEEK (Allium Porrum). The Leek is a hardy bien- 
nial plant, cultivated for the use of the lower part of 
its leaves, which form a sort of elongated bulb (see Fig. 
386). It has never been found in a wild state, and 
botanists who have studied the subject have confirmed 
the suspicions of Linneus and the older authors that 
it is a cultivated form of the widely-distributed A. 
Ampeloprasum. Leeks, when well grown, and the stems 
thoroughly blanched, constitute an excellent and whole- 
some vegetable; they are also valuable as a potherb. 
Their extended cultivation in small gardens is confidently 
recommended, as in many—possibly in the majority—it 
is not at present attempted. 
Cultivation. Leeks are raised from seed, which should 
be sown thinly in a seed-bed, and lightly covered, about 
the middle of March. A small quantity may be sown 
Leek—continued. 
earlier than this for using first, and a later sowing will 
form a succession. If sown thinly broadcast, as advised, 
but little after-attention will be necessary, with the 
exception of weeding, and an occasional watering, until 
June, when the plants of the main crop will be ready for 
transferring to their permanent quarters. An open situa- 
tion is preferable, and a rich soil, such as that which 
has been manured the previous autumn. Transplanting 
should be performed in showery weather; or, if such does 
not obtain, the ground should be lightly turned over 
afresh, or be watered. Planting is practised in several 
Ways; some growers prepare trenches, somewhat like 
those for Celery, and add soil for blanching as growth pro- 
ceeds; and others make rather large, deep holes, wherein’ 
to plant. The latter is the easiest method, and the one 
most largely adopted. A distance of from 1ft. to 14ft. 
should be allowed (according to the variety) between the 
rows, and the plants placed from Qin. to 12in. asunder. 
Holes should be made about 3in. in diameter, and a 
strong plant dropped upright in each, and merely watered 
in, The surrounding space may be filled in with soil 
when hoeing, after the plants are grown sufficiently to 
allow of it being performed without burying the crowns. 
When the trench system is adopted, earthing-up must 
be practised occasionally, to cause the blanching, which 
is obtained without it by the other method. The Leeks 
will be fit for use from September throughout the winter 
and spring. Any not used before April may be lifted, 
and their roots laid in soil, in a cool position, until re- 
quired; this will prevent them running to seed. If seed 
is desired, some of the best plants should be selected, 
and placed in a warm situation about the beginning of 
March. The seed ripens in autumn, and the heads con- 
taining it may be cut when matured, and suspended in a 
cool, dry shed, until the following spring. 
Sorts. London Flag is, perhaps, the best variety for 
general use; it has a tall, thick stem, and is largely 
cultivated. The Musselburgh, or Scotch Flag, is a large 
and hardy sort, with long, thick stems. Ayton Castle 
and Henry’s Prize are large and fine varieties for exhi- 
bition. The Lyon Leek is a novelty recently distributed. 
It is stated to have been grown and exhibited with the 
blanched portion 20in. in length, and 4in. in diameter ; 
the whole plant weighing over 4lb. This variety ha 
been well grown in Scotland. 
LEGUME. The fruit of leguminous plants (Legumi- 
nose). A solitary two-valved carpel, bearing its seeds on 
the ventral suture only. 
LEGUMINOSZ:. A very large order of trees, 
‘shrubs, and annual or perennial herbs, distributed all 
over the globe. The order is divided into three large 
sub-orders, some of the principal characters of which 
are mentioned below. 
The first of these sub-orders, Papilionacee, has a 
calyx of five sepals, which are more or less united ; 
corolla perigynous, of five irregular petals (very rarely 
fewer), more or less distinctly papilionaceous, i.e., 
with the upper petal (the vexillum or standard) larger 
than the others, and inclosing them in the bud; the 
two lateral ones (the ale, or wings) exterior to the two 
lower petals, which last are commonly more or less co- 
herent by their anterior edges, forming a body named 
the carina, or keel, which usually incloses the stamens 
and pistil. Stamens ten, rarely five, monadelphous, dia- 
delphous (mostly with nine united into one set, and the 
tenth, or upper one, separate), or occasionally distinct. 
Ovary one-celled, sometimes two-celled by an intrusion 
of one of the sutures, or transversely two to many-celled 
by cross division into joints. Flowers perfect, solitary 
and axillary, or in spikes, racemes, or panicles. Leaves 
simple, or rarely compound, alternate; leaflets almost 
always quite entire. All the British representatives of 
the order Leguminose belong to the sub-order Papilio- 
