AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HORTICULTURE. 



247 



Ledum continued. 



fL white ; stamens ten, longer than the 



la. April and May. I. linear, with revolute margins, clothed 

 rusty tomentum beneath, h. 2ft. Northern hemisphere, 



!. palustre (marsh).* 

 corolla. 



with ru , . 



1762. A smaller and narrower-leaved species than L. latifolium. 

 (L. B. C. 560.) 



LEE A (commemorative of James Lee, 1715-1795, a 

 well-known nurseryman at Hammersmith, who did a good 

 deal to popularise the Linnaean system). ORD. Ampelidece. 

 A genus of about a score species of stove shrubs or small 

 trees, natives of tropical Asia and Africa, and the Mas- 

 carene Islands (rare in Australia). Flowers red, yellow, 

 or green ; inflorescence corymbosely cymose. Leaves alter- 

 nate, usually very large, simple, or one, two, or three- 

 pinnate. Tendrils absent. Leeas require a rich loam, 

 and succeed best in a moist stove. Some of them are 

 much grown in the tropics for the beauty of their fruits. 

 Under cultivation, however, in this country, but few are 

 worth growing. L. amabilis is a very handsome foliage 

 plant. 



L. amabilis (lovely).* I. unequally pinnate, on long chan- 

 nelled leafstalks ; stipules large, leafy ; leaflets in two or three 

 pairs, stipellate, all more or less lanceolate, rounded at the base, 

 acute or acuminate, sparingly serrate ; upper surface of velvety 

 texture, and deep bronzy-green colour, with a rather broad 

 central white stripe irregularly indented at the margin ; lower 

 surface claret-red, with a translucent central green stripe. 

 Borneo, 1880. See Fig. 385. (G. C. n. s., xviL 493.) 

 L. coccinea (scarlet). /. scarlet, in dense cymes. Summer. 

 I. tripinnate, glabrous, dark green. Probably one of the dwarfest 

 of the Leeas ; it commences to flower when about 1ft. high. 

 Tropical Asia. (B. M. 5299.) 



LEE GHEE. See Neplielium Litclii. 



LEEK (Allium Porrum). The Leek is a hardy bien- 

 nial plant, cultivated for *he use of the lower part of 

 its leaves, which form a sort of elongated bulb (see Fig. 



FIG. 386. LEEK. 



386). It has never been found in a wild state, and 

 botanists who have studied the subject have confirmed 

 the suspicions of Linnaeus and the older authors that 

 it is a cultivated form of the widely- distributed A. 

 Ampeloprasum. Leeks, when well grown, and the stems 

 thoroughly blanched, constitute an excellent and whole- 

 some vegetable; they are also valuable as a potherb. 

 Their extended cultivation in small gardens is confidently 

 recommended, as in many possibly in the majority it 

 is not at present attempted. 



Cultivation. Leeks are raised from seed, which should 

 be sown thinly in a seed-bed, and lightly covered, about 

 the middle of March. A small quantity may bo sown 



Leek continued. 



earlier than this for using first, and a later sowing will 

 form a succession. If sown thinly broadcast, as advised, 

 but little after-attention will be necessary, with the 

 exception of weeding, and an occasional watering, until 

 June, when the plants of the main crop will be ready for 

 transferring to their permanent quarters. An open situa- 

 tion is preferable, and a rich soil, such as that which 

 has been manured the previous autumn. Transplanting 

 should be performed in showery weather, or, if such does 

 not obtain, the ground should be lightly turned over 

 afresh, or be watered. Planting is practised in several 

 ways; some growers prepare trenches, somewhat like 

 those for Celery, and add soil for blanching as growth pro- 

 ceeds ; and others make rather large, deep holes, wherein 

 to plant. The latter is the easiest method, and the one 

 most largely adopted. A distance of from 1ft. to l^ft. 

 should be allowed (according to the variety) between the 

 rows, and the plants placed from 9in. to 12in. asunder. 

 Holes should be made about Sin. in diameter, and a 

 strong plant dropped upright in each, and merely watered 

 in. The surrounding space may be filled in with soil 

 when hoeing, after the plants are grown sufliciently to 

 allow of it being performed without burying the crowns. 

 When the trench system is adopted, earthing-up must 

 be practised occasionally, to cause the blanching, which 

 is obtained without it by the other method. The Leeks 

 will be fit for use from September throughout the winter 

 and spring. Any not used before April may be lifted, 

 and their roots laid in soil, in a cool position, until re- 

 quired; this will prevent them running to seed. If seed 

 is desired, some of the best plants should be selected, 

 and placed in a warm situation about the beginning of 

 March. The seed ripens in autumn, and the heads con- 

 taining it may be cut when matured, and suspended in a 

 cool, dry shed, until the following spring. 



Sorts. London Flag is, perhaps, the best variety for 

 general use ; it has a tall, thick stem, and is largely 

 cultivated. The Musselburgh, or Scotch Flag, is a large 

 and hardy sort, with long, thick stems. Ayton Castle 

 and Henry's Prize are large and fine varieties for exhi- 

 bition. The Lyon Leek is a novelty recently distributed. 

 It is stated to have been grown and exhibited with the 

 blanched portion 20in. in length, and 4in. in diameter ; 

 the whole plant weighing over 41b. This variety has 

 been well grown in Scotland. 



LEGUME. The fruit of leguminous plants (Legumi- 

 nosce). A solitary two-valved carpel, bearing its seeds on 

 the ventral suture only. 



LEGUMINOSJE. A very large order of trees, 

 shrubs, and annual or perennial herbs, distributed all 

 over the globe. The order is divided into three large 

 sub-orders, some of the principal characters of which 

 are mentioned below. 



The first of these sub-orders, Papilionaceas, has a 

 calyx of five sepals, which are more or less united ; 

 corolla perigynous, of five irregular petals (very rarely 

 fewer), more or less distinctly papilionaceous, i.e., 

 with the upper petal (the vexillum or standard) larger 

 than the others, and inclosing them in the bud; the 

 two lateral ones (the alae, or wings) exterior to the two 

 lower petals, which last are commonly more or less co- 

 herent by their anterior edges, forming a body named 

 the carina, or keel, which usually incloses the stamens 

 and pistil. Stamens ten, rarely five, monadelphous, dia- 

 delphous (mostly with nine united into one set, and the 

 tenth, or upper one, separate), or occasionally distinct. 

 Ovary one-celled, sometimes two - celled by an intrusion 

 of one of the sutures, or transversely two to many-celled 

 by cross division into joints. Flowers perfect, solitary 

 and axillary, or in spikes, racemes, or panicles. Leaves 

 simple, or rarely compound, alternate; leaflets almost 

 always quite entire. All the British representatives of 

 the order Leguminosce belong to the sub-order Papilio- 



