LEPIDODEXDRON. 



LEPIDOLITE. 



ft* has downy leaves, the upper OOM toothed. the lower 

 ! UK! narrowed into a footstalk, the stem-leaves UnoeoUte, 

 ad anpkxieanls. It is distinguished from the other species 

 by the poueti bring orate, rough, and covered with minute scales, 

 notched and rounded at the end, the style scarcely longer than the 

 notch. It crow* on dry gravelly eoil in Great Britain. 



L. latifolimm hu orate Isncsolshi leaves, eerrated or entire ; the 

 pooch if oval and downy. It hai numeroot amall flower* in oompouud 

 leafy panioled clusters. It U a native of Europe, aleo of Algiers, and 

 of several part* of England, generaUy near the sea. It bat a rery hot 

 biting tsste, and hai been need instead of hone-radish, occasionally as 



.. . . . The poor people are in the habit of eating it as a condiment 

 to their food ; hence it hai acquired the name of Poor Man's Pepper. 

 An infocioiiof it act* ae an emetic. Fraae believes thii to be the 



of Dioeoorides, 2, 147, although it is usually referred to the 

 ics tntica. It U abo the Lr,.li*m of Pliny, 20, 17, 19, 8. 



The green-home epeeiee will thrive well in any kind of light aoil, 

 MM! are readily propagated by cuttings planted under a hand-glass, or 

 by seeds. The hardy perennial species, by dividing at the roots or by 

 seeds, will grow in any kind of aoil. The hardy annual kinds only 

 to be sown in the open ground. None of the f peciee are worth 

 for ornament. 



icUamydtotu Plmtt ; Babington, Manual of Britiih Botany ; 

 Knuu, fynoptit Flora domett; Burnett, Outline* of Botany.) 



LKPIDUDKXURON (\1, a scale, and Strtpor, wood), an im- 

 portant genus of Fossil Plant*, in the examination of which Sternberg 

 < Flora der Vonrelf), Brongniart (' Vogctaux Fossilei '), and Lindley 

 (' Fossil Flora') have signalised their abilities, not without success, 

 though some uncertainty yet attaches to the botanical relations of 

 than singular specimens of the flora of earlier nature. M. Brongniart 

 in 1822, and again in his ' Prodrome' (1828), referred the Lepidodendra 

 to the natural group of Lyeopodiacta, pointing out however their 

 analogies to Cytadea and CVmi/rnr, and assigned the following 

 characters: 



Stems dicbotomoui, covered near the extremities with simple linear 

 or lanceolate leaves, inserted on rhomboid*! areohc ; lower part of the 

 (terns leafless; the areokc for their insertion marked in the upper 

 part with a transverse cicatrix, of a deltoid figure, the lateral angles 

 acute, the inferior angle obtuse or wanting. The form of the cicatrix 

 ^of the leaves is the essential character of the genus ; it indicates that 

 the leaves were nearly trigonal at the base, becoming plane at some 

 distance therefrom, with a strong midrib. A rounded cioatrix dis- 

 tinguishes the leaf-base of stigmaria, which was perhaps an aquatic 

 punt of toe same natural group as the terrestrial Lrpidodendion, 



I ' *, ! 



70 f**t in length, with diameter 

 orfaos is covered by rhomboid*! en 

 o as to present a beautiful oulnounoi 



1 Foull Flor*,' pi. 4.) 



erised attain the size of 60 or 

 xceeding 3 (set : their whole 

 mce*, arranged in spiral rows, 

 quteeonabd ornament In the opinion of 

 division (dioootomoos) of the stem *n.l the 



o 



ivision (dioootomoos) of the stem 

 leaves determine a great affinity between th 

 . The growth of the stem ha co 



M. Broopriart th* Bods of 



tomof"th leaves dsn_ _ . 



aWrnsVi i sad Lmptdiutia. The growth of toe stem be compares 

 to IBM of OfttJat, sad the form of the reproductive organs (cones) 

 hows analogy to Cvmifera, and e^fcUIly Aramcaria. 



Dr. LindUy. in the flint volume of the Fossil l-lora of Great Britain,' 

 after dieeoasu* thaboteniosj rautions of Ltpid*l*,dr* a* far a. the 

 (acte then ooDected allowed, thus exprwses his opinion : " Upon the 



whole, we are led to conclude that the ItpiJodeadron genus was not 

 exactly like either Com/era or Lyeapoduutec ; but that it occupied an 

 intermediate station between these two orders, approaching more 

 nearly to the latter than the former." 



A great addition to the data requUito for determining the problem 

 of the true characters of Lepidodendron was made by the Rev. C. V. 

 Harcourt, who discovered a specimen in which the internal structure 

 of a branch was perfectly observable, and which, when cut thin and 

 polished, cleared up many important points. Mr. Withun, tin- 

 authors of the ' Fossil Flora,' and finally H. Brougniart, have published 

 drawings and descriptions derived from this precious fragment. 

 Dr. Lindley and Mr. \V. Htitton (' Fossil Flora,' ii. p. 51) consider 

 their former view entirely confirmed by this discovery. " It had a 

 central pith, a vascular sheath surrounding that pith, and fistular 

 passages in ita cortical integument : thus far it was Coniferous. But 

 as no trace can be found of glandular woody fibre, it can scarcely be 

 said to have had any wood, and it is uncertain whether it had any 

 bark. . . . It* vascular system was confined to the middle of the 

 stem and to the curved passages emanating from it : the stem con- 

 sisted of lax cellular tissue, which became more compact towards the 

 ouUide, and it had a very powerful communication between the bases 

 of ita leaves and the central vascular system : thus far it was Lyco- 

 podiaoeous." Spiral vessels are stated to be seen round the central 

 cellular tissue ; and (tab. 113) it is further said, " the genus was more 

 nearly related to Com/era than to Lycopodiacece." 



M. Brongniart, renewing his investigations with the aid of these 

 new facts, evidenced by Lepidodendron JIarcourlii, adopted a different 

 view concerning the vascular system of the stem, for he supposes the 

 central cellular tissue to be entirely surrounded by a narrow zone of 

 large vessels, " rave's trunsvenalement ' (by Dr. Lindley considered as 

 a loose cellular tissue), as in Lycopodiacea and Ferns, without medul- 

 lary rays, and of which the exterior parts go off in bundles to the 

 ! .1 . -. 



From the whole discussion he adopts the conclusion that by the 

 interior structure of the stems, as well as by their exterior form, their 

 mode of ramification, and the arrangement of their leaves, the Ltpi- 

 dudtndra agree almost completely with Lycopodiaceir, and may be 

 regarded as arborescent groups of that family, which contains in the 

 living creation only small and humble plants ; nor does it appear that 

 his conviction is weakened by the comparison of these elongated 

 (cylindrical) fossil ' cones ' (Lepidorirobi), which are by most botanists 

 referred to Lepidodendron, with the analogous organs of Lycojiodiacca 

 and Coniferce. [LEPIDOSTROBI ; COAL-PLANTS.] 



The species are numerous, and confined to the older strata, and 

 specially abundant in the Coal-Formation. 



(Brongniart, Hittoirt det Vfgftoauc Pouila ; Lindley and Mutton, 

 Pouil Flora of Great Britain.) 



LEPIDOGA8TER, a genus of Fishes belonging to the Subbnichial 

 .Valacopteryyii, and to the family Cyclopterida, or Ifucoboli. [DIS- 

 COBOLI.] The genus Lepidogatler is distinguished by its smooth body 

 without scales ; dorsal and anal fins opposite and near the tail ; psctoral 

 fins Urge, descending to the inferior surface of the body, and by an 

 extension of the membrane surrounding an oval disc; ventral fins 

 united by a membrane which extends circularly under the Iwlly, 

 forming a second concave disc. 



L. Cornubirniii, the Cornish Sucker, Jura Sucker, and Ocellated 

 .Sucker, Cyclopterui Lepidogaiter of Pennant and L. biciliatui of Risso, 

 is occasionally seen on the Cornish coasts, and has been taken on th<> 

 coasts of Antrim and Clare in Ireland. This fish is small, a specimen 

 described by Mr. Couch not being more than two inches and a half in 

 length. It adheres with its sucker to almost any substance presented 

 to it, and even to the human hand. The general tint of this fish is 

 a pale flesh-colour, with spots and patches of carmine about the upper 

 and under surface of the jaws, around the eyes, on the top of the head, 

 sides of the body, and abdomen. 



L. kinactUattu, the Bimaculatod Sucker, is a second British species. 

 This fuh is rarer than the last It has been taken on the southern 

 coasts of Great Britain. It seldom exceeds three-quarters of an inch 

 to an inch in length. Its general colour is a carmine red ; pale flesh- 

 colour underneath, with a light-coloured patch between the eyes, and 

 otherwise liable to some variation in the markings : the two spots on 

 the sides not always very obvious. It lives in deeper water than the 

 last species. 



(YarreU, Brtiith Fuha.) 



I.KI'IlKKJoXYS. [FALOOMD.B.I 



I.KI'JIMiKUOKITE. [QOTHrra.] 



LBPIDOLKPBUa. a genus of Fishes belonging to the family 

 Oadida. It is closely related to the genus Morrhua, to which the 

 Common Cod belongs. The suborbitals are united with the nasal 

 bone, and form a depressed muzzle, advancing before the mouth, 

 which however retains its mobility. The head and body have hard 

 spinous scales; the ventral* are a little on the throat; the pectoral of 

 mean size ; the first dorsal high ; the second dorsal, anal, and caudal 

 united ; the jaws short ; the tooth fine and short. The species inhabit 

 deep water, and utter a grumbling noise when taken out of the water. 

 Two species are known. They inhabit the Mediterranean and 

 Atlantic. 



LEl'IDOLITE. [Mic-A.] 



