AN ENCYCLOPAEDIA 
OF HORTICULTURE. 253 
Leschenaultia - continued. 
L. arcuata (arched). A synonym of L. linarioides. 
L. Baxteri (Baxter’s). A synonym of L. formosa. - 
L. biloba (two-lobed).* fl. blue; corymbs few. flowered; segments 
of corolla cuneated, deeply two-lobed, with a mucrone between 
them. June to August. J. linear-obtuse. Stem branched. A. lft. 
1840. Shrub. SYNS. L. Drummondi, L. grandiflora. (B. R. 1841, 2.) 
The form major is a very desirable one, being somewhat larger, in 
all its parts, than the type. 
L. chlorantha (greenish-flowered). fl. similar to those of L. For- 
mosa, but pale green in colour; the two upper connivent lobes of 
the corolla are acuminate, and more or less recurved. Jl. jin. to 
zin. long. A low, diffuse, much-branched shrub, with the habit 
of L. formosa, of which it is probably only a variety. 
L. Drummondi (Drummond’s). A synonym of L. biloba. 
L. formosa (handsome).* fl. scarlet, axillary, solitary, bractless, 
drooping ; upper lip of corolla rounded, entire; lower ones tri- 
partite. June to September. . linear. h. lft. . Shrub. 
Syns. L. Baxteri, L. multiflora (L. B. C. 1579), L. oblata. (B. M. 
2600; B. R. 916.) 
L. grandiflora (large-flowered). A synonym of L. biloba. 
L. laricina (Larch like). fl. scarlet; corymbs three to five- 
flowered ; corolla having the tube hairy inside at the bottom; 
segments spreading, two-lobed. June to August. J. filiform, 
compressed, apiculate. Stem branched. h. lit. 1844. Shrub. 
Syn. L. splendens (under which name it is figured in B. M. 4256). 
L. linarioides (Toadflax-like). fl. yellow, terminal; corolla large, 
with three broad spreading bifid segments and two smaller entire 
ones, August. J. scattered, filiform. Stem branched. 1844, 
Shrub. SYNS. L. arcuata (B. M. 4265), Scævola grandiflora. 
L. multiflora (many-flowered). A synonym of L. formosa. 
L. oblata (oblate). A synonym of L. formosa. 
L. splendens (splendid). A synonym of L. laricina. 
LESPEDEZA (named after D. Lespedez, once 
Governor of Florida, and a great patron of botany). 
ORD. Leguminose. This genus comprises about twenty- 
five species of annual or perennial herbs, shrubs, or sub- 
shrubs, distributed over North America, temperate Asia, 
the mountains of the East Indies, and the Archipelago, 
and also in Australia. Flowers purplish, rose or white, 
borne in axillary clusters or racemes, or terminal panicles; 
calyx lobes nearly equal, or the upper two shortly united ; 
standard orbicular, obovate or oblong, narrowed into a 
claw; wings free; keel obtuse or beaked. Leaves 
pinnately trifoliolate, rarely one-foliolate; leaflets en- 
tire, exstipellate; stipules free. Several species have 
been introduced; but, except L. bicolor, they are but 
rarely seen in cultivation. 
L. bicolor (two-coloured). fl. rosy-purple, numerously produced 
in long pendulous branched panicles. l. glabrous, with oblong 
leaflets. R. Aft. to 6ft. North China and Japan. Syn. Desmo- 
dium pendulifiorum, (B. M. 6602.) . 
L. reticulata (netted). fl. violet; peduncles few-fiowered. l., 
. leaflets varying from oval-oblong to linear, whitish-downy beneath, 
with close-pressed pubescence. North America. ere are 
several varieties, the principal of which are: 
ee (narrow. leaved). f. closely clustered on 
; ht t ; l. crowded ; leaflets narrowly oblong or linear, 
often silky, 
L. r. divergens (diverging). fl. loosely panicled. L., leaflets 
oval or oblong. : : 
L. r. sessilifiora (sessile-fiowered), fl. principally on peduncles 
much shorter than the leaves. 
LESSER MAY BUG. See May Bugs. 
LESSERTIA (named after Benjamin de Lessert, of 
Paris, 1773-1847, author of “Icones Plantarum”). ORD. 
Leguminose. This genus comprises about thirty species 
of greenhouse herbs or sub-shrubs, natives of the Cape of 
Good Hope. Flowers pink or red, rarely white, in axillary 
pedunculate racemes; vexillum sub-orbiculate, spreading 
or reflexed, naked within; claw short; wings oblong; 
keel upright or incurved, obtuse, often shorter than the 
vexillum. Leaves impari-pinnate; leaflets entire, exsti- 
pellate. Probably the species here described is the only 
one now in cultivation. It thrives in a loam and peat 
compost. Propagated by seeds, or by divisions, in spring. 
L. perennans (enduring). H. with a pale base and red or purple 
apex, numerous, drooping ; racemes longer than the leaves, loose, 
ongated, pedunculate. August. I., leaflets oval, silky beneath, 
pubescent above. h. lft. 1776, Herbaceous perennial. (B. M. 6106.) 
LETTSOMIA. Now included under Freziera, 
LETTUCE (Lactuca sativa). The Lettuce is a hardy 
annual, which has been extensively cultivated in this 
country since, and most likely long previous to, 1562. 
Botanists agree in looking upon the garden Lettuce as 
a cultivated race which has originated from L. scariola. 
The old Greeks and Romans cultivated the Lettuce as a 
salad plant (Theophrastus mentions three varieties), and 
in the Orient it was, perhaps, grown at a still more remote 
period. There are two distinct types, termed respectively 
Cabbage and Cos varieties. The latter may have been 
introduced from the Greek Archipelago or the Levant, 
as it derives its name from an island there, originally 
known as Cos. Cabbage Lettuces are distinguished by 
their broad, rounded leaves, forming a low, spread- 
Fig. 394. CABBAGE LETTUCE. 
ing head nearly close on the ground (see Fig. 394). Cos 
varieties grow upright, and the leaves are more of an 
Fic. 395. Cos LETTUCE. 
oblong shape (see Fig. 395). Lettuces, especially good 
Cos varieties, are very popular, and amongst the most 
useful of salading plants. To insure crisp, thoroughly- 
blanched hearts, it is necessary, with some sorts, to close 
the outer leaves together, and tie them. There are others 
which overlap, and do not require this attention to secure 
the desired end. Acres of land are devoted to the first. 
spring crop in the neighbourhood of large towns, the 
demand for a supply of Lettuces being very great at this 
season. There are few gardens in which some are not 
grown ing to requirements, and, practically, none 
in which a few would not be acceptable. 
Cultivation. Lettuces are in request nearly all the year © 
