AND GENERAL HORTICULTURE. 



231 



LOB 



native of Lille, became physician and botanist 

 to James I., and died in London in 1816. 

 Nat Ord. CampanulacecB. 



An extensive and varied group of interest- 

 ing plants. Thie genus consists of over eighty 

 species, many of whicli are highly ornamental 

 and useful in the garden and in the green- 

 house. L. erimis and its varieties are trailers, 

 and remarkable for their profusion of beauti- 

 ful blue flowers. They are usually treated as 

 annuals, and grown from seed, but succeed 

 well when grown from cuttings. This species 

 was introduced from the Cape of Good Hope 

 in 1752, and from it have sprung numerous 

 varieties, running through all shades of blue 

 rose, lilac, etc. A very j>retty double blue 

 variety was originated in 1870. L. cardinalis, 

 Cardinal Flower, a native species, common 

 throughout the States, is one of the most 

 brilliant flowers in cultivation. Though 

 usually found in moist places, it will grow 

 well in the border, and is one of our best 

 plants to grow on the shady side of the house. 

 L. syphilitica, another species common to our 

 brook and river sides, has beautiful blue 

 flowers, and is well worthy of cultivation. L. 

 inflata (Indian Tobacco), an annual species, 

 common in the Northern States, is, perhaps, 

 the best known of the whole family, because 

 of the medicinal properties it was formerly 

 supposed to possess. It is still largely used 

 in medicine, but is not now considered a spe- 

 cific for every disease that flesh and blood are 

 heirs to. 



Lobelia'ceae. A tribe of Campanulaceoe. 



Lobel's Catchfly. See Silene armeria. 



Loblolly Bay. See Gordonia. 



Lobster-Leaved Cactus. See Epiphyllum. 



Loco. See Astragalzis. 



Locular. Divided into cells. 



Locust Tree. The common name for the genus 

 Robinia; also used for Ceratoma Siliqua, and 

 HymencBa. 



Locust Tree. Of Scripture, or St. John's 

 Bread. See Ceratonia. 



Loddige'sia. Named after Conrad Loddiges, 

 founder of a once celebrated London nursery. 

 Nat. Ord. Legitminosce. 



L. oxalidifolia, the only species is a much- 

 branched evergreen shrub, with trifoliate 

 leaves, and bearing pinkish flowers, with a 

 dark purple keel, borne in three to eight- 

 flowered umbels in June. It was introduced 

 from the Cape of Good Hope in 1802, and is 

 easily increased by cuttings in April. 



Lodoi'cea. Coco de Mer. Double Cocoanut. 

 Named after iaodic€, the daughter of Priamus 

 and Hecuba. Nat. Ord. Palamcece. 



L. Seychella'Tum, the only species of this 

 genus, is one of the most remarkable of the 

 order. It is found only on the islands Praslin 

 and Curiense of the Seychelles group. This 

 Palm has a nearly cylindrical trunk, scarcely 

 exceeding a foot in diameter, grows to the 

 height of one hundred feet, and bears a crown 

 of fan-shaped leaves, some of which are up- 

 ward of twenty feet long and twelve feet wide. 

 Many marvelous stories are told of this tree, 

 its fruit, and its uses. We give the descrip- 

 tion and history of this Palm, which is far 

 more wonderful than fiction, in the language 

 of Thomas Moore, F.L.S., as related in the 



LOI 



"Treasury of Botany:" "This magnificent 

 Palm requires a great length of time to arrive 

 at maturity. The shortest period before it 

 puts forth its flower-buds is thirty years, and 

 a hundred years elapse before it attains its 

 full growth. From the age of fifteen to 

 twenty-five years it is in its greatest beauty, 

 the leaves at this period being much larger 

 than they are subsequently. The stem grows 

 quite upright, straight as an iron pillar, 

 and in the male trees frequently attains 100 

 feet in height, the females being shorter. At 

 the age of thirty it first puts forth its blos- 

 soms, the males forming enormous catkins, 

 about tliree feet in length and three inches in 

 diameter, while the females are set on a 

 strong zig-zag stalk, from which hang four or 

 five, or sometimes as many as eleven nuts, 

 averaging about forty pounds weight each. 

 From the time of flowering to the maturation 

 of the fruit, a period of nearly ten years 

 elapses, the full size, however, being attained 

 in about four years, at which time it is soft 

 and full of a semi-transparent, jelly-like sub- 

 stance. The arrangements provided by nature 

 for the roots of this tree are of a most peculiar 

 kind. The base of the stem is rounded, and 

 fits into a natural bowl or socket about two 

 and a half feet in diameter and eighteen 

 inches in depth ; this bowl is pierced with 

 hundreds of small oval holes about the size of 

 a thimble, with hollow tubes corresponding 

 on the outside, through which the roots pene- 

 trate the ground on all sides, ne\er, however, 

 becoming attached to the bowl, their partial 

 elasticity affording an almost imperceptible 

 but very necessary ' play ' to the parent stem 

 when struggling against the force of violent 

 gales. This bowl is of the same substance as 

 the shell of the nut, only much thicker. It 

 rots very slowly, for it has been found quite 

 perfect and entire in every respect sixty years 

 after the tree has been cut down." 



Lcese'lia. Named after John Lcesel, author of 

 "Flora Prussica." Nat. Ord. Polemoniacece. 



A genus of glabrous, slightly viscid shrubs 

 or herbs, natives of Mexico, Central America, 

 and New Grenada. The flowers are axillary, 

 scarlet or white, the upper ones often crowded 

 at the apices of the branches ; leaves alternate 

 or opposite, undivided, often acutely toothed. 

 L. coccinea, a very showy scarlet species, is 

 generally found under the name of Hoitzia 

 coccinea. They are easily increased by cut- 

 tings. 



Loga'nia. A genus comprising about twenty 

 Australian species, and one from New Zealand, 

 all herbs or small shrubs, of no particular 

 interest, either as useful or ornamental plants. 

 It has given its name to the order Logan iacecB. 



Logania'ceae. A natural order of herbs, shrubs, 

 or trees, of variable habit, closely allied to 

 Riibiacfcs. They inhabit chiefly tropical 

 countries, and are bitter and highly poisonous, 

 both in bark and seeds. The Poison-Nut, 

 Strychnos nux-vomica, belongs to this order. 

 There are about thirty genera, and 350 species. 

 Spigelia, Strychnos, and Logania are the most 

 easily recognized examples. 



Logwood. See Hcematoxylon. 



Loiseleu'ria. Alpine Azalea. Named for Loise- 

 leur Deslongchamps, a French botanist. Nat. 

 Ord. ErUMcecB. 



