AN ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF HORTICULTURE. 



263 



Ligatures continued. 



rolled spirally round the cut surfaces, and drawn tight 

 enough, at every turn, to keep all the parts firmly in 

 position. Whatever the material used as a Ligature may 

 be, it should be examined occasionally after being applied, 

 and gradually loosened and removed when a complete 

 union of the parts is effected. 



LIGERIA A synonym of Sinningia (which see). 

 LIGHT. The exposure of plants to Light is one of 

 the chief conditions under which they succeed in making 

 their growth. Growth made in the absence of sufficient 

 solar Light consists of weak, elongated shoots that are un- 

 able to perform their proper functions. All vegetable life 

 is in an active state throughout the spring and summer, 

 when the amount of heat and Light is correspondingly 

 great ; as both diminish in autumn, growth declines, and 

 many plants remain in a somewhat dormant state until 

 the following year. The amount of Light available in 

 winter needs utilising to the fullest extent for plant 

 cultivation, by keeping the glass in all houses and pits 

 frequently cleaned. Heavy blinds permanently fixed on 

 houses, in summer, often prove injurious, by preventing 

 an amount of Light from entering in cloudy weather 

 that would be most beneficial to the occupants. Plants 

 standing in a dark part of a house will be found to grow 

 weak and drawn, compared with others in the same 

 structure similarly situated except in regard to this im- 

 portant element. Light is most essential to all vegeta- 

 tion, on account of the chemical action it causes in the 

 production of colouring matter in the leaves. It is pur- 

 posely excluded from many vegetables, by closing their 

 outside leaves together or covering the stems with soil, 

 as the case may be, in order to blanch and render the 

 centre or edible portion tender and available for use. 



LIGHTFOOTIA (named in honour of Eev. J. Light- 

 foot, 1735-1788, author of a Flora of Scotland). ORD. 

 Campanulaceoe. A genus of about forty species of green- 

 house evergreen small shrubs, or erect annual or branching 

 perennial herbs, natives, for the most part, of the Cape 

 of Good Hope. Flowers blue, white, or rose, small. 

 Leaves alternate, rarely opposite, often fasciculate in the 

 axils, small or narrow, often squarrose, entire or rigidly 

 dentate. Lightfootias thrive in a mixture of loam, peat, 

 and sand. Propagated by cuttings, made of young 

 shoots, and inserted in sand, containing a little peat, 

 under a bell glass ; the annuals, by seed, sown in a warm 

 frame, in spring. Probably the species here described 

 are the only ones yet introduced. 



L. clliata (ciliated).* fl. bluish, axillary and terminal, in loose 

 racemes at the tops of the branches. July. I. alternate, some- 

 what reflexed, ovate-lanceolate, acute, entire. Stem decumbent, 

 woody at the base, branched. Branches woody, erect, purplish. 

 h. 9in. Cape of Good Hope, 1822. SYN. L. Loddifiesii. (L. B. C. 

 1058, under name of L. tenella.) 



L. Iioddigesii (Loddiges'). A synonym of L. ciliata. 

 L. oxycoccoides (Oxycoccus-like). /. white, with reddish nerves, 

 axillary and terminal, at the tops of the branches. July. I. alter- 

 nate, reflexed, ovate-lanceolate, acute, thin, denticulated at the 

 base. Stem erect or ascending, much-branched; branches dif- 

 fuse, h. 6in. to 12in. Cape of Good Hope, 1787. 

 Ii. sessiliflora (sessile-flowered), fl. blue, numerous, terminal 

 and axillary, solitary, racemose. I. alternate, rarely opposite, 

 numerous, very narrow, erectish or spreading. Stem ascending or 

 erect, rather woody, mostly simple or branched, h. 1ft. to lift. 

 Cape of Good Hope. 



L. tenella (delicate). A synonym of L. ciliata. 

 LIGNUM VITJE. See Guaiacum officinale. 

 LIGULARIA (from ligula, a strap; referring to the 

 florets). ORD. Composite. A genus comprising about 

 a score species of hardy herbaceous perennials, with 

 handsome leaves, now included, by Bentham and Hooker, 

 under Senecio. Ligularias require generally a free, moist 

 soil, and prefer a rather peaty one. Propagated by divi- 

 sions, in spring and autumn. Only the undermentioned 

 species are worth growing. 



It. japonica (Japanese), fl.-heads yellow, small, paniculate. 

 Autumn. I. stalked, glabrous, green above, paler beneath ; lower 



Lignlaria continued. 



ones inciso-palmate, lobes unequally dentate ; upper ones undi- 

 vided, serrate. Japan. SYN. Erythochcute palmatifida. 

 Ii. Ksempferi aureo-maculata (Kaempfer's gold-spotted).* I. 

 large, orbicular-cordate, dark green, glabrous, shining, irregularly 

 blotched with yellow, or sometimes with white and rose. Stems 

 thick, fleshy, h. 1ft. to 2ft. Japan. SYNS. Farfugium grand* 

 and Senecio Kcempferi aureo-maculata. (B. M. 5302.) 



FIG. 407. LIGULARIA MACROPHYLLA, showing Habit and 

 detached Flower-head. 



L. macropfcylla (large-leaved), fl.-headg yellow, borne in a 

 dense, long, terminal spike. I. oval, very large, glaucous, h. Sift. 

 Caucasus. A very large and vigorous-growing perennial, and an 

 excellent plant for sub-tropical gardening. See Fig. 407. 



LIGULATE. Strap-like ; having the form of a strap. 

 LIGUSTICUM (named from the country Liguria, 

 where the officinal Lovage, L. Levisticum, abounds). 

 ORD. Umbelliferce. A genus comprising about a score 

 species of glabrous perennial herbs, dispersed over the 

 Northern hemisphere. Flowers in compound umbels, often 

 many-rayed ; petals white, or rarely yellowish white. 

 Fruit ovate or oblong. Leaves pinnately or ternato-pin- 

 nately decompound. L. scoticum is sometimes employed 

 as a potherb. It will grow in any ordinary soil, but is 

 of no horticultural value. 



L. scoticum (Scotch). Lovage. fl., umbels of twelve to twenty 

 rays, with a general involucre of two or three narrow bracts and 

 more numerous ones to the partial umbels. Summer. I., lower 

 ones on long stalks, deeply divided into three, each branch bearing 

 three segments or one deeply three-lobed segment. Stem 1ft. to 

 2ft. high. Britain, &c. 



LIGUSTRINA AMURENSIS. See Syringa 

 amurensis. 



LIGUSTRUM (the old Latin name used by Pliny, 

 probably from ligare, to tie ; referring to the use made 

 of the flexible shoots). Privet. SYN. Visiania. ORD. 

 OleaceoB. A genus comprising about twenty-five species 

 of ornamental, hardy, evergreen or deciduous, glabrous 

 shrubs or small trees, natives of Europe, temperate 

 and tropical Asia, and Australia. Flowers often white, 

 disposed in trichotomous or thyrsoid terminal panicles. 

 Berry scarcely drupaceous. Leaves opposite, entire. 

 The species and varieties are of easy culture in almost 

 any soil and situation, such as the neighbourhood of 

 large towns, where a smoky atmosphere prevails, in the 

 shade, or under the drip of trees. The common Privet 

 grows best in a moist and strong loamy soil, and attains 

 the largest size in an open situation. Propagated by 

 cuttings of the young shoots, or by seeds, in the same 

 manner as advised for the Hawthorn (see Cratsegns). 

 The former method of propagation should be employed 

 with varieties. 



L. amurcnse (Amur). A synonym of L. Ibota. 

 L. angnstifolium (narrow-leaved). A garden synonym of L. 

 Massalongianum. 



