232 



THE DICTIONARY OF GARDENING, 



Lambertia continued. 



outer ones short and ovate. June to August. L linear or 

 slightly linear-cuneate ; margins recurved, contracted into a very 

 short petiole, rigid, shining above, pale or almost ferruginous 

 beneath. 1788. A tall shrub. (A. B. R. 69 ; B. R. 528 ; 

 L. B. C. 80.) 



LAMBERT'S FILBERT. See Corylus tubulosa. 

 LAMB'S LETTUCE. See Corn Salad. 



LAMINA. Generally applied to the blade of a leaf. 



LAMIUM (the old name used by Pliny, probably 

 from laimos, a throat, on account of the shape of the 

 corolla). Dead Nettle. Including Galeobdolon. OBD. 

 Labiatae. This genus comprises about forty species of 

 annual or perennial hairy herbs, decumbent at the base, 

 natives of Europe, North Africa, and extra-tropical Asia, 

 and distinguished either by the long arched upper lip, or 

 by the smallness of the lateral lobes of the lower lip, 

 of the corolla. Leaves always stalked, ovate or orbicular, 

 and toothed. The species are of no great horticultural 

 value, and perhaps the only ones worth mentioning here 

 are the following : 



L. Galeobdolon (Galeobdolon). fl. yellow, large, in six to ten- 

 flowered whorls. May and June. I. ovate, acuminate, doubly 

 crenated or serrated. Rootstock short, stoloniferous. Europe 

 (Britain), West Siberia. Perennial. (Sy. En. B. 1085.) There 

 is a pretty garden variety with golden-bronzy leaves, useful for 

 rockwork or rustic borders. 



L. maculatom (spotted).* fl. usually purple, large ; corolla throat 

 suddenly dilated. June to September. /. cordate, crenate or 

 serrate, wrinkled, with a medium white stripe. A pretty dwarf- 

 growing, free-flowering, border plant. Europe, North Africa, 

 North and West Asia. Naturalised in some parts of Britain. 

 Perennial. (Sy. En. B. 1087.) A form of this (aureum), with 

 golden-coloured foliage, is useful as a rock or border plant, and 

 also for spring bedding. 



LAMOT7ROTJXIA (named after J. V. F. Lamouroux, 

 1779-1825, a naturalist and professor at Caen). OBD. 

 Scrophularinece. A genus comprising eighteen species of 

 erect, decumbent, or sub-scandent, greenhouse perennial 

 (or rarely annual) herbs, natives of Mexico, Central, and 

 the mountains of South, America. Flowers scarlet or 

 rosy, showy, axillary, or in terminal spikes or racemes ; 

 corolla with a short tube, a long, ventricosely compressed 

 throat, and a bilabiate limb. Leaves opposite, toothed or 

 rarely entire, or dissected. It is doubtful if any of the 

 species are now in cultivation ; and, as they are probably 

 all more or less root parasites, it is hardly likely they 

 would remain long in gardens after being introduced. 



LAMFROCOCCUS. This genus is now included, by 

 Bentham and Hooker, under JEchmea. 



LAN ARIA (from lana, wool; perianth velvety on 

 the outside). SYNS. Argolasia, Augea. OBD. Hcemodoracece. 

 A monotypic genus. The species is a very pretty little 

 greenhouse herbaceous perennial, of easy culture in a 

 compost of sandy loam and peat. It should be allowed 

 an abundance of water. Propagated by divisions of the 

 root. 



L. plumosa (feathery), fl. white, woolly ; perianth six-parted, 

 spreading; scape angular, corymbose. May. I. few, linear, 

 keeled, smooth, h. lift. Cape of Good Hope, 1787. 



FIG. 373. LANCEOLATE LEAF, WITH SERRATED MARGINS. 



LANCEOLATE. Lance or spear-shaped; narrowly 

 elliptical, tapering to each end. A Lanceolate leaf, with 

 serrated margins, is shown at Fig. 373. 



LAND CRESS. See Cress, American or Land. 



LANDOLFHIA (named after M. Landolphe, who 

 commanded the West African expedition, to which P. de 

 Beauvois was attached as botanist). OBD. Apocynacece. 

 A genus comprising about sixteen species of stove scan- 

 dent shrubs, natives of tropical and Southern sub-tropical 

 Africa and Madagascar. Flowers often rather large ; 

 corolla white or yellowish, salver-shaped, with narrow 

 contorted lobes; cymes terminal, sometimes densely to- 

 mentose, sometimes loosely thyrsoid-paniculate. Leaves 

 opposite, penniveined, and reticulated. From the species 

 of this genus caoutchouc is largely obtained. L. owariensis 

 thrives in a well- drained fibry loam, and cuttings root 

 readily in bottom heat. Several other species besides 

 L. owariensis have been introduced to Kew, and distri- 

 buted to the various British Colonies. 



L. owariensis (Owara). fl. Jin. long ; calyx lobes ovate-rotund- 

 ate. fr. about the size of an orange, with a woody reddish- 

 brown shell, and an agreeable, sweetish acid pulp. I. 5in. long, 

 IJin. broad, membranaceous. Stems 4in. to 6in. in diameter near 

 the ground. 



LANDSCAPE GARDENING. Effective Land- 

 scape Gardening is an art which is only acquired by 

 considerable study, taste, and judgment, on the part of 

 persons engaged in its execution. The art has refer- 

 ence chiefly to the laying out of grounds, and the ar- 

 rangement and planting 1 of trees and shrubs in such a 

 manner as to eventually produce the most pleasing 

 effect, so far as circumstances in individual cases admit. 

 Where natural Landscape does not, to a certain extent, 

 exist, the work of wholly creating it becomes an exten- 

 sive undertaking, and involves considerably more expense 

 than where an arrangement and improvement, by addi- 

 tional planting, &c., are the only requirements. Land- 

 scape gardeners, by profession, are not very numerous, 

 their services being in request principally for laying out 

 new estates ; and, as this presents endless difficulties to 

 proprietors, and entails such an enormous amount of 

 work and expense, it is not frequently undertaken. The 

 chances of improvement in Landscape are, however, con- 

 tinually presented, and admit of being executed, by ex- 

 perienced hands, a portion at a time, without materially 

 interfering with the effect of the whole until the work 

 is completed. Definite ideas are absolutely necessary, 

 and no attempt should be made at laying out or im- 

 proving grounds without the fullest consideration being 

 first given, and the results calculated to prove tolerably 

 certain. A few of the main features may be here 

 referred to, but their application must not be taken as 

 always applicable, so much depending on individual re- 

 quirements, locality, natural disposition , of land, the 

 beauty of existing scenery, and many other points which 

 have to be kept in view. The selection of trees and 

 shrubs for permanent positions should be restricted to 

 such as are known to be perfectly hardy, and adapted 

 to the soil of the locality. Doubtful ones may be tried 

 for giving a variety, but they should be kept in posi- 

 tions where provision can be made for substituting some- 

 thing else in the event of failure. Tall-growing trees 

 must be kept in the background, in the case of an exten- 

 sive piece of undulating scenery, dwarfer specimens and 

 irregular belts of shrubs being introduced in the front. A 

 large space, and an open expanse of lawn or ordinary 

 grass, is best suited for producing a Landscape effect, the 

 eye passing from the foreground amongst and over trees 

 and shrubs of a moderate height, either isolated or 

 grouped, to an irregular background of various trees 

 behind. The work of devastation amongst trees, when 

 alterations are taking place, requires most careful study- 

 ing before being carried out, or distinct and fine specimens 

 of historic interest may be ruthlessly destroyed, and 

 their place taken by something far removed, in reality, 

 from the aim of improvement in view. Spring and summer 

 are the best seasons for noting where improvements can 

 be made, as the different forms of foliage and the way they 



