LAURUS. 
267 
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LAWN. 
quire a greenhouse in England, and 
are grown in loam and peat, and 
propagated by cuttings. 
LastuHe\nia.— Composite.—Cali- 
fornian annuals, with bright yellow 
flowers ; which require the usual 
treatment of Californian plants. See 
CaLirornian ANNUALS. 
La'tuyrus. — Leguminése. — A 
genus of vigorous-growing, very 
ornamental perennials and annuals, 
of which those best known are L. 
latifolius, the Everlasting Pea, with 
pink flowers, and a variety with pure 
white flowers, both growing to the 
height of six feet or eight feet when | 
supported by sticks, in the manner 
of common Peas, or trained to a} 
trellis ; LZ. grandiflorus, a perennial 
remarkable for the large size of its | 
flowers ; L. odordtus, the common 
. Sweet Pea, an annual remarkable 
\ for the fragrance of its blossoms, 
which are of various colours ; and | 
L. tingitanus, the Tangier Pea, a 
tall-growing plant, the flowers of 
which are dark purple. 
very interesting species is Lord An- 
son’s Pea, L. magellanicus, a peren- 
nial plant, interesting from the 
beauty of its foliage and its blue 
flowers, and not nearly so much 
cultivated as it ought to be: against 
a wall, it is a rare, and at the same 
time a very elegant species There 
are many others, both ainuals and 
perennials, ali of which are more 
or less showy, and being of vigorous 
growth are well adapted for broad 
borders. They will grow in any 
common soil; the annuals are pro- 
pagated by seeds, and the perennials 
by divisionsof the root. 
LaureL.—See Cer/rasus. 
LaureL, AMERICAN.—See Ka’L- 
MIA. 
Lavu'rus.Laurdcee.—The Sweet 
Bay, L. nobilis, is a very handsome 
evergreen shrub or low tree, with 
dark-green leaves. It is somewhat 
tender, and requires a_ sheltered 
situation. The male and female 
Another | 
flowers are on different plants; and 
the former, which are of a rich 
yellow, are by far the most showy. 
It will grow in any common soil, 
and it is propagated by layers. The 
leaves are used to flavour custards. 
The fruit of the female plant is a 
round dark purple berry, produced 
in abundance in fine seasons ; but, 
unfortunately, in nurseries, the male 
plant is by far the most common. 
Lava'npuLa. — Labidte. — The 
Lavender is a low suffrutescent 
bush, well known for the fragrance 
of its flowers, and for an oil which 
they yield by distillation in water. 
L. Ste chas, the French Lavender, 
is a more ornamental plant than the 
common kind, but somewhat tender. 
Both require a dry calcareous soil, 
and an open airy situation. The 
common Layender is cultivated on 
a large scale at Mitcham, and also 
at Henley-on-Thames. — both 
places it is propagated by cuttings 
of the young wood planted in au- 
tumn, and seeds are sold in the 
seed-shops. 
LavaTe'ra.— Malvacee.—A very 
showy annual, common in flow 
gardens, which only requires sowing 
in the open border in March or April 
There are also two shrubbery kinds 
See Tree Matiow. 
Lawn.—Smooth mown turf, when 
of any extent in pleasure grounds, 
is called a lawn ; and its chief beau- 
ties are the uniformity of its sur- 
face, and uniformity in the kinds of 
grasses which cover it, and which 
produce a uniform tone of green. 
These objects are produced by first 
preparing the soil, which should be 
a sandy loam, or a loam slightly 
inclining to sand, of a foot or more in 
depth, and equally drained through- 
out, so as everywhere to retain the 
same degree of moisture. Next, the 
same mixture of grasses should be 
sown throughout ; and lastly, they 
should be mown at regular intervals, 
say of a fortnight during the sum- 
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