226 



THE DICTIONARY OF GARDENING, 



Laclinostoma continued. 



many-flowered. Leaves opposite, often cordate. The un- 

 dermentioned species probably the only one in culti- 

 vation requires culture similar to Oronolobus (which 

 see). 



It. maritimus (sea-loving), fl., corolla green at back and edge, 

 purple in the middle ; umbels sessile, few - flowered, between 

 the petioles. June and July. I. downy, cordate, acuminate, with 

 the recess of the base open ; petioles as long as the leaves. Stems 

 densely downy backwards. Caracas, Ac. An inelegant twiner. 

 (B. R. 931, under name of Gonolobus inaritimus.) 



LACINIATE. Jagged ; cut or divided into unequal 

 segments. 



LACISTEMACE.2E. A natural order of shrubs or 

 small trees, all natives of tropical America, extending 

 from Brazil and Pern as far as the West Indies and 

 Mexico. Inflorescence of axillary, solitary, or fascicled 

 spikes; perianth of two to six (usually four) petaloid 

 segments, persistent. Leaves alternate, shortly petiolate, 



Lackey Moth continued. 



cocoon, with which a sulphury powder is plentifully 

 mixed. When nearly mature, the larva are gaudily 

 coloured the head is blue-grey, with two black spots, 

 like eyes ; the next segment is blue-grey, with four black 

 spots ; the other segments are alike, striped with white 

 down the middle of the back, and with orange-red, blue, 

 and black, on the sides. The pupa is smooth and brown. 

 The moths emerge in July. The Lackey Caterpillars 

 seldom do serious harm, except when they attack the 

 Apple-tree; and they never seem to be so hurtful in 

 England as they are at times in France and Germany. 

 They have not been recorded from Scotland. 



Remedies. The best is hand-picking. The eggs, when 

 noticed on the branches, should be destroyed; but the 

 best success follows the removal of branches bearing the 

 webs and the young larvas, since these webs are readily 

 seen. Something should be held below, to catch larvse 



FIG. 366. LACKEY MOTH (BOMBVX NEUSTRU). 



entire, penniveined; stipules none. The order contains 

 but one genus, Lacistema, and sixteen species. 



LACKEY MOTH (Bombyx Neustria). These insects 

 vary considerably in colour, but the upper wings are 

 usually brown, tinged with red or yellow, crossed by 

 a darker band margined with pale bars; the fringes 

 along the hind margin are alternately pale and dark. 

 The lower wings are usually red-brown, with an in- 

 distinct paler crossbar. The female lays her eggs on 

 the twigs of various trees, such as Apple. Oak, Elm, 

 &c., in spirally -arranged groups, each about in. long 

 (see Fig. 366). When the larvae emerge from the 

 eggs in spring, they are black. For a considerable 

 time, they live in society, spinning a web over the 

 branches and leaves. From the web they go out to feed 

 on the neighbouring brandies, but return to it in wet 

 weather, and in the evening ; and often they may be 

 seen sunning themselves on its surface. When nearly 

 full fed, they wander apart from one another, to seek out 

 a suitable place between leaves, among rubbish, in 

 crevices of bark, or elsewhere to spin an oblong yellow 



that may drop off. They may also be shaken off the 

 branches, and crushed below the trees. The ground 

 should be kept clear of weeds and other cover for such 

 as fall, or are seeking for a safe shelter in which to 

 spin their cocoons, and to become pupae. 



LACOSTEA. Included under Tricliomanes (which 

 see). 



LACTESCENT. Containing lac, or milk. 



LACTUCA (the old Latin name, from lac, milk; in 

 reference to the milky juice). Lettuce. Including Mulge- 

 dium. OBD. Composites. A genus comprising about sixty 

 species of hardy, and usually weedy, annuals or perennials, 

 natives of the temperate regions of the Northern hemi- 

 sphere and South Africa, only a few of which are worth 

 growing. Flower-heads blue or yellow ; involucre of few 

 bracts, in several series, placed upon a flat, naked receptacle. 

 Fruits somewhat flattened, surmounted by a long, slender 

 beak, and a pappus of long, silky, silvery hairs. Leaves 

 radical or alternate, entire, largely dentate or pinnatifid ; 

 margins setose-ciliate or naked. Stems erect, branching. 

 Lactucas thrive in a deep but light or sandy loam, and 



