LTTT^A. 



188 



require a hothouse or greenhouse in 

 England. L. Russellianus has hand- 

 some jjui-ple flowers ; but it is verj- 

 difficult to cultivate. The following 

 method is said to be the best. The 

 seed should be sown in March, in a 

 compost of three parts loam, two 

 parts vegetable mould, and one of 

 silver sand, and the pots placed in a 

 hotbed at a temperature of about 70^. 

 The frame should be shaded till the 

 young plants have expanded their 

 fourth leaf. In June the young 

 plants should be potted separately in 

 60' s, and then returned to the frame, 

 and shaded for about ten days. They 

 should remain in the frame till Sep- 

 tember, being gradually hardened so 

 as to be ready to take out of the 

 frame about the end of that month, 

 when they should be removed to a 

 warm dry shelf in a greenhouse. 

 Here they should remain till Febru- 

 ary, having no more water than will 

 be sufficient to keep them from flag- 

 ging. The first week in February 

 they should be put into a cucumber 

 frame, and well supplied with water. 

 As soon as the plants begin to grow 

 they should be repotted, and placed in 

 a frame heated to 75'^, in which they 

 should be plunged in charcoal dust. 

 They should be watered twice a 

 week till ^fay, and then every 

 alternate day, wdth rain-water and 

 liquid manure alternately. Early in 

 July they will come into flower, and 

 may then be removed to the green- 

 house or drawing-room. One plant 

 has been known to have 300 blossoms 

 exposed at one time. L.acutdngulus 

 has no beauty to recommend it. 



Lissa'nthe. — Epacridece. — The 

 plants should be grown in a green- 

 house, in peat and sand ; and they 

 are propagated by cuttings of the 

 tips of the shoots, like heaths. 



Litt^'a or Lttt^'a. — Bromeli- 



acece. — Handsome i)^^^^^^? nearly 



llied to Agave, with spreading leaves 



! and long spikes of flowers. The fine 



plant formerly known as Buona- 



j pdrtea juncea, is now called Littaa 



I fjeminijibra. They should be grown 



I in sandy loam, and are increased by 



I suckers from the roots. 



j Lo AH. — Clay is one of the primitive 



' earths, of so close and compact a 



^ texture as to be almost unfit for 



vegetation, unless mixed with some 



lighter material ; but combined with 



sand and decayed vegetables, it forms 



loam. "What are called sandy loam, 



and yellow loam, are two kinds of 



soil very ' conducive to vegetation ; 



and sandy loam is jjerhaps the best of 



I all soils for a garden. 



LoA^SA. — Loasacece. — Stinging 

 I annual and biennial plants, with 

 j showy flowers. The splendid climb- 

 I ingplant, L. lateritia, ox aurantlaca, 

 \ is now discovered to be Caiophora 

 j punlcea, the difference between the 

 j genera consisting in the Caiophora 

 I having a twisted seed-pod, while that 

 , of the Loasa is plain. The species 

 are all nearly hardy, but they do best 

 I when raised on a slight hotbed, and 

 I planted out in Slay, 



Lobe'lia. — Lohelidcece. — No- 

 thing can exceed the beauty of the 

 plants retained in this genus, some of 

 which are tender, requiring a stove, 

 and others of which are quite hardy, 

 growing freely in the open ground. 

 Some also are quite dv.-arf, and others 

 tall plants ; some are blue, others 

 scarlet, and others yellow ; and some 

 are annuals, and the others perennials. 

 All the Lobelias require a light rich 

 soil, and plenty of moisture. The 

 large, tall-growing kinds, with scarlet 

 or pink flov/ers, are now frequently 

 called Tupa. 



Loblolly Bat, — See GoFvDO'nia. 

 Locust Tree of the Americans, 

 or Cobbett's Locust. — Rolinia 

 Pseud- Acacia.— ^QQ Robi'nia. 



Logwood. — Hoematoxrjlon cam- 

 jjechidnum. — A leguminous stove- 



