AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HORTICULTURE. 



249 



Lens continued. 



FIG. 387. UPPER PORTION OF PLANT AND POD OF LENS 

 ESCULENTA. 



L. esculenta (edible), fl. pale blue, small, in long-stalked, 



few-flowered, racemose clusters. Summer. I. usually terminal .in- 

 to a long, simple or slightly-branched tendril ; leaflets (about six 

 pairs) narrowly lanceolate - oblong. h. 6in. to 18in. Native 

 country unknown. One of the most anciently cultivated plants ; 

 it was well-known to the Egyptians and Persians, and has been 

 grown in Europe since the days of the Roman Empire. The seeds 

 (lentils) are highly valued as food, being amongst the most nutri- 

 tious of vegetable substances. See Fig. 387. 



LENTIBULARIE.2E. A natural order of dicotyle- 

 dons, belonging to Lindley's bignonial alliance of perigy- 

 nous exogens. Chiefly aquatic or marsh herbs, most 

 abundant in the tropics. Flowers showy, irregular ; calyx 

 divided, persistent ; corolla bilabiate ; stamens two, in- 

 cluded; anthers one-celled. Leaves radical, either un- 

 divided or cut into filiform root-like segments, bearing 

 little bladders. There are four genera the best known 

 being Pinguicula and Utricularia and about 180 species. 



LENTICULAR. Lens-shaped. 



LENTILS. The seeds of Lens esculenta (which 

 see). 



LEONOTIS (from leon, a lion, and cms, otos, an ear ; 

 in allusion to the fanciful likeness of the corolla to the 

 ear of a lion). Lion's Ear. OBD. Labiatae. A genus 

 comprising about twelve species of greenhouse herbs 

 or shrubs, mostly found in tropical and Southern Africa, 

 one species being broadly dispersed through the Mas- 

 carene Islands and East Indies ; also found in tropical 

 America. Flowers red or yellow, sessile, often showy ; 

 helmet villose ; corolla tube often exserted ; limb bilabiate ; 

 whorls densely many-flowered, sometimes solitary at the 

 tops of the branches. Nutlets ovoid-triquetrous, obtuse 

 or truncate at apex, glabrous. Leaves dentate. The 

 species, when well grown, are very ornamental, and are 

 of easy culture in a rich loamy soil, if once properly 

 established. Propagated by cuttings, which strike freely, 

 in a gentle bottom heat, in early spring. 



Vol. II. 



Leonotis continued. 



When rooted, they should be potted off, and shifted into 

 larger sizes as becomes requisite ; continual stopping will 

 induce a bushy growth. The plants may be kept in the 

 open air throughout summer, and removed to the green- 

 house at the approach of autumn. 



L. intermedia (intermediate). /. bright fulvous or orange- 

 yellow, hairy, in whorls of about thirty from tlm uppermost joints 

 of the stem. September. I. wrinkled, on very long stalks, 

 smoothish and opaque above, downy beneath ; lower ones ovate- 

 cordate, obtuse ; upper ones lanceolate. Stems erect, remotely 

 jointed, h. 4ft. Cape of Good Hope, 1822. (B. R. 850.) 

 L. Leonurus.* Lion's Tail. fl. scarlet, villous, 2in. long ; whorls 

 rather loose ; calyx finely tomentose. Winter. I. oblong-lanceo- 

 late, bluntly serrated, tomentose beneath, and pubescent above 

 Branches tomentose. h. 3ft. to 6ft. Cape of Good Hope, 1712. 

 Shrubby. SYN. Phlomis Leonurus (under which name it is 

 figured in B. M. 478). (G. C. n. s., xix. 186.) 



L. nepetaefolia (Catmint-leaved), /..corolla deep shining orange, 

 scarlet, upper lip projecting far beyond the nether one ; whorls 

 distant, many-flowered. September. I. cordate, obtusely and 



deeply serrated, green, sub-tomen 

 leaves, h. 4ft. to 6ft. East Indies, 1 



tiole the length of the 

 (B. R. 281.) 



LEONTICE (from leon, leontos, a lion; alluding to 

 the fancied resemblance in the leaves to the print of a 

 lion's foot). OED. Berberidece. A small genus (three or 

 four species) of herbs, with tuberous rhizomes, natives of 

 central Asia and South Europe. Flowers yellow, race- 

 mose ; racemes sub-paniculate ; sepals six to nine, peta- 

 loid ; petals six, much shorter than the sepals, truncate 

 at apex. Leaves twice or thrice pinnate or trisected, 

 with rather thick segments ; canline ones few. L. altaica 

 the species best known to cultivation is a half-hardy 

 plant, succeeding in common soil. It may be increased 

 by offsets, or by seeds. 



FIG. 388. LEONTICE ALTAICA, showing Habit, detached Leaf, 

 and Portion of Inflorescence. 



L. altaica (Altaic), fl. about twelve, in terminal deflected ra- 

 cemes ; pedicels one-flowered ; petals erect, semi - cylindrical. 

 April. I. solitary, petiolate ; petiole tripartite, with spreading 

 divisions, each bearing on its summit five elliptical, glaucous, 

 unequal leaflets, on partial petioles. Stem erect, succulent, green 

 at base. h. 3in. to 6in. Altai Mountains. See Fig. 388. (B. M. 

 3245.) 

 L. Chrysogonum. See Bongardia Rauwolfli. 



LEONTODON (from leon, leontos, a lion, and odons. 

 tooth ; referring to the tooth-like margins of the leaves). 

 Hawkbit. Including Thrincia. OED. Composites. This 

 genus comprises about forty species of hardy herbaceous 

 plants, of which one is a native of North America, and the 

 rest inhabit Europe, Central and Western Asia, and North 

 Africa. Florets entirely strap-shaped, and surrounded by 

 several rows of overlapping bracts ; receptacle naked. 

 Leaves spreading, toothed. None of the species are of 

 any value horticulturally. 



LEONTOPODIUM (the Greek name, given origin- 

 ally by Dioscorides ; from leon, leontos, a lion, and poua, 



2K 



