LEBECKIA 



491 



LEIANTHUS 



surface of the leaves, in some plants from both surfaces, 

 and in floating water-plants from the upper surface. 

 Hence arises the benefit which plants derive in rooms, 

 greenhouses, and other confined inclosures, by keeping 

 these surfaces cleansed with the sponge and syringe. 

 Some plants are particularly sensitive to injury from any 

 check to their transpiration, among which are the tea- 

 scented roses ; and it thence arises that they cannot 

 now be cultivated, to great advantage, in nursery gardens 

 near London, where they once flourished when that 

 metropolis was less extensive. It must be remembered, 

 however, in using the sponge and syringe, that the 

 under side of leaves is also an absorbing surface, benefited 

 by being kept clean, and by the application of moisture. 



During the day leaves absorb carbonic acid gas, which 

 they decompose, retaining its carbon, and emitting the 

 greater part of the oxygen that enters into its composi- 

 tion. In the night this operation ceases, but plants 

 continue to take in oxygen from the air in the process 

 of breathing, as they did during the day. The oxygen 

 combines with the carbon of substances containing it, 

 thereby giving the plant energy to carry on its work, 

 and carbonic acid gas, that is, carbon dioxide, is liberated 

 as a waste product. 



Carbonic acid gas in small proportions is essential to 

 the existence of leaves ; yet it only benefits them when 

 present in quantities not exceeding one- twelfth of the 

 bulk of the atmosphere in which they are vegetating, 

 though one-twenty-fifth is a still more favourable pro- 

 portion ; and as hotbeds, heated by fermenting matters, 

 have the air within their frames rapidly contaminated 

 to a much greater extent than the proportions above 

 named, thence arises the injury to the plants they con- 

 tain from a too long neglected ventilation. The leaves 

 turn yellow from the excess of acid, which they are 

 unable to digest, and which constantly effects that change 

 of colour which also occurs in autumn. 



LEBE'CKIA. (Derivation unexplained. Nat. ord. 

 Leguminosae.) 



Greenhouse shrubs of moderate size. Cuttings in 

 sand, under a bell-glass, in gentle heat. Loam, peat, 

 and sand. 



L. cytisoi'des (Cytisus-like). 2-5. Yellow. S. Africa. 

 nu'da (naked). See INDIGOFERA FILIFOLIA. 

 serfcea (silky). 3. Yellow. S. Africa. 

 simsia'na (Simsian). 4. Yellow. S. Africa. 1820. 



LEBRETO'NIA, and LEBRETO'NNIA. See PAVONIA. 



LECANO'PTERIS. (From lekane, a basin, and pteris, 

 a fern. Nat. ord. Ferns [Filices]. Linn. 24,-Cryptogamia, 

 \-Filices. Now believed to be an abnormal form of 

 Polypodium lomarioides.) 



A fine stove Fern. See FERNS. 

 L. carno'sa (fleshy-teat^). Yellow. May. Java. 



LECHENAU LTIA. See LESCHENAULTIA. 



LEDEBOU'RIA HYACI'NTHINA and L. HYACIN- 

 THOI'DES. See SCILLA INDICA. 



LEDENBE'RGIA. (A commemorative name. Nat. 

 ord. Phytolaccaceae.) 



Stove climber. Cuttings in sand in a close case with 

 bottom-heat. Loam, leaf-mould, or peat and sand. 

 Requires a tub or to be planted out in a well-drained 

 and specially prepared border. 



L. ro'seo-a'nea (rosy-brassy). Leaves of a coppery hue 

 and violet-purple beneath. Brazil. 1869. 



LEDOCA'RPON PEDUNCULA'RE and L. VERTI- 

 CILLA'TUM. See BALBISIA VERTICILLATA. 



LEDON GUM. Ci'stus glau'cus. 



LE'DUM. Labrador Tea. (From ledon, the Greek 

 name of Cistus. Nat. ord. Heathworts [Ericaces]. Linn. 

 io-Decandria, i-Monogynia. Allied to the Rhododen- 

 dron.) 



Hardy, evergreen, white-flowered shrubs. Layers ; 

 peat, with a little sand. Very pretty for bordering 

 Rhododendrons . 



L. canade 1 nse (Canadian). See L. LATIFOLIUM CANADENSE. 

 glandulo'sum (glandular). 1-2. April. Leaves ovate, 

 not woolly. N.W. Amer. 1896. 



L. latifo'lium (broad- leaved). 3. April. N. Amer. 1763. 

 ,, canade'nse (Canadian), ij. April. Canada. 

 globo'sum (globose). Rounded bush. 1878. 

 ,, paiu'stre (marsh). 2. April. Europe. 1762. 

 ,, decu'mbens (lying-down). . April. Hudson 

 Bay. 1762. 



LEE A. (Commemorative of James Lee, a nursery- 

 man of Hammersmith. Nat. ord. Ampelidaceae.) 



Stove shrubs, grown chiefly for their fine foliage. 

 Cuttings in sand in a close case, with bottom-heat. 

 Loam, peat, some nodules of charcoal and sand. 

 L. ama'bilis (lovely), i. Leaves velvety, bronzy-green, 

 with feathered white rib, claret beneath. Borneo. 

 1880. 



cocci' nea (scarlet). 3-5. Scarlet. Burma. 1862. 

 Micholi'tzii (Micholitz's). Leaves rich green, with red 



and white veins. New Guinea. 1899. 

 ra?&m'na(Ro3hrsian). See L. SAMBUCINA RCEHRSIANA. 

 ,, sambu'cina (elder-like). Leaves bronzy-green when 



young. Malaya. 1898. 



rcehrsia'na (Roehrsian). Leaves large, bronzy- 

 green when young. Malaya. 1898. 

 sple'ndens (splendid). Underside of leaves red. 

 Gardens. 1884. 



Nephe'lium Li'tchi. 



(A'llium Po'rrum.) The leek is a hardy bien- 

 nial ; for although it attains perfection in size and for 

 culinary purposes the first year, it does not run to seed 

 until the second, the perfecting of which it often sur- 

 vives. The whole plant is eaten, being employed in 

 soups, &c., and boiled and eaten with meat. 



Varieties. The Musselburgh and the large London Leek, 

 which are by far the best ; the Scotch, or Flag, which is 

 larger and hardier ; the Flanders ; and the Lyon, a 

 noted leek for blanching. 



Sowing. Sow first in the end of February a small 

 crop for transplanting in June and July, as well as in 

 part to remain where sown ; again, for the main crop, 

 in the course of March or early in April ; and lastly, 

 towards the close of April or beginning of May, for late 

 transplanting. Sow in drills, some to remain after 

 thinning ; the leek, however, is much benefited by trans- 

 planting. 



Cultivation. When the plants are three or four inches 

 in height, hoe and thin to two or three inches apart; 

 water, also, in dry weather, will strengthen and forward 

 them for transplanting, when six or eight inches high. 

 They must be taken away regularly from the seed-bed, 

 the ground being well watered previously, if not soft and 

 easily yielding. When thinned out they may be left to 

 remain in the seed-bed six inches asunder, as they do 

 not grow so large as the transplanted ones, which must 

 be set by the dibble in rows ten inches apart each way, 

 nearly down to the leaves, that the neck, by being 

 covered with the earth, may be blanched ; water in 

 abundance at the time of planting, and shorten the long, 

 weak leaves, but leave the roots as uninjured as possible. 

 By this treatment, and by cutting off the tops of the 

 leaves about once a month, as new ones are produced, 

 the neck swells to a much larger size. The several 

 sowings above directed will yield a supply from August 

 until the following May, when they advance to seed. 

 A portion should be always taken up and laid in sand 

 previous to the ground being locked up by continued 

 frost ; but they will not keep many days in this situation. 



LEE'RSIA. (Commemorative of /. D. Leers, a German 

 botanist. Nat. ord. Gramineas.) 



Hardy perennial grass for the margins of streams, ponds, 

 and ornamental water. Seeds ; divisions. Ordinary 

 soU. 



L. oryzoi'des (rice-like). 2-3. Green to pale purple. 

 August to October. Europe (England). 



LEGUME. The fruit or seed-pod of the pea family 

 (Leguminosas), such as that of the pea, bean, and scarlet- 

 runner. 



LEIA'NTHUS. (From leios, smooth, and anthos, a 

 flower. Nat. ord. Gentianworts [Gentianacea?]. Linn. 

 S-Pentandria, i-Monogynia. Allied to Lisianthus.) 



Stove plants. Seeds, sown carefully in a pot, placed 

 in a hotbed ; cuttings of young shoots in sandy soil, 

 under a glass, in heat ; sandy peat and fibrous loam ; a 



