AN ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF HORTICULTURE. 



287 



LITHEJEA. See Rims. 

 LITOBROCHIA. See Pteris. 



LITSEA (from the Japane-e name). STN. Tetran- 



thera. Including Tetradenia. ORD. Laurinece. A 



large genus (upwards of 140 species have been de- 



scribed) of greenhouse or half - hardy trees, rarely 



shrubs, natives of tropical and Eastern Asia, from the 



Malayan Archipelago to Japan, tropical and sub-tropical 



Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia, and (a few) 



North America. Flowers dioecious, umbellate or capitate ; 



involucres globose, pedicellate or sessile, disposed in 



sessile or shortly pedunculate fascicles, or in axillary or 



lateral racemes. Leaves alternate, few, or rarely almost 



opposite, penniveined or triplinerved. Few of the species 



are grown in this country. For culture, see Lauras. 



L. geniculata (jointed), fl. yellow, polygamous, disposed in ter- 



minal, few-flowered umbels ; pedicels short. May. I. deciduous, 



lanceolate, glabrous. Branches deep red, divaricately flexuous 



h. 6ft. South United States, 1759. Half-hardy. SYX. Launis 



fieniculata (under which name it is figured in B. M. 1471). 



L. glauca (glaucous), fl. whitish, as large as a hazel-nut, 



in dense branched clusters. Summer. I. lanceolate-oblong, 



acuminate, green above, silvery beneath. Japan. A handsome 



bush for cool conservatory decoration. 



L. japonica (Japanese), fl. white ; umbels fasciculated, shortly 

 peduncled ; involucre five to nine-flowered. I. rigid, coriaceous, 



oblong or oblong-lanceolate, glabrous or shining above, ferru- 

 ginous or tomentose beneath, h. 

 (S. Z. F. J. 87, 100.) 



, , 



inous or tomentose beneath, h. 3ft. Japan, 1843. Half-hardy. 



LITTJEA. This is now included, by Bentham and 

 Hooker, as a section of Agave. 



LITTONIA (named after Dr. S. Litton, once Pro- 

 fessor of Botany at Dublin). ORD. Liliacece. A genus 

 comprising only two species, one a native of Natal, and 

 the other of Angola. Flowers orange, showy, nodding; 

 pedicels short, solitary, axillary, ebracteate. Lower leaves 

 ternate or quinate, sub-verticillate ; upper ones sub-op- 

 posite or scattered, lanceolate, acuminate. Stems flexuous, 

 simple, leafy. L. modesta the only species yet intro- 

 duced is an elegant stove or greenhouse plant, very like 

 Gloriosa in habit and general appearance. For culture, 

 see Gloriosa. 



Livistona continued. 



ornamental mostly stove palms, with unarmed stems, 

 natives of Eastern tropical Asia, the Malayan Archi- 

 pelago, New Guinea, and Eastern Australia. Flower- 

 spikes branching, with several incomplete, leathery 

 spathes. Leaves terminal, fan - shaped, divided into 

 numerous segments, which are split at the apex, and 

 frequently have threads hanging between them ; footstalks 

 sheathed at the base in a mass of netted fibres. The 

 species thrive in a compost of two parts loam and one of 

 peat, to which a little sand may be added. A liberal 

 supply of water is needed throughout the summer. 

 Several species are admirably adapted for various decora- 

 tive purposes, and especially for sub-tropical gardening. 

 Propagated by seeds, which should be sown in sandy 

 soil, and placed in a gentle bottom heat. 

 L. altissima (very tall). I. bright shining green, fan-shaped, 

 lift, to 2ft. from top of petiole to margin, divided into segments 

 about one-third of the way down, each segment bifid at the apex ; 

 petiole 2ft. to 6ft. long, the upper part green, base brown, 

 inclosed in a reddish-brown network of woody fibres, and 

 armed on each edge with stout and sharp recurved black spines. 

 Java, 1868. 



FIG. 456. LITTONIA MODKSTA, showing Top of Flowering Shoot 



and detached Flower. 



L. modesta (modest).* fl. rich orange, bell-shaped, axillary. 

 Early summer. I. bright shinm- ureen, terminated by a tendril. 

 h. 2ft. to 6ft. South Africa, 1853. A pretty plant for growing 

 against a pillar. See Fig. 456. (B. M. 4723.) 

 LITTORAL. Growing on the sea-shore. 

 LITUATE. Forked, with the points a little turned 

 outwards. 



LIVISTONA (named in honour of P. Murray, once 

 of Livingston, near Edinburgh). STN. Saribus. ORD. 

 Palmce. A genus comprising fourteen species of very 



FIG. 457. LIVISTOXA AUSTRALIS. 



L. australis (Southern).* I. dark green, nearly circular, much 

 plaited, divided round the edo;e into narrow plicate segments- 

 petioles stout, dark brown, inclosed in a network of fibroin 

 matter at the base, and armed at the edges with stout spines 

 F'i- 457 *(B t M 1 627 U 4 S ) ralia> ' Sm Corypha australis - See 



L. chinensis (Chinese).* I. large, over 5ft. broad, fan-shaped, 

 with pendent marginal segments ; petiole < 4ft. to 5ft. long 

 rounded below, Hat above ; edges armed with short reflex spines 

 enveloped at the base in a network of brown fibrous tissue! 

 h. 50ft. South China, 1818. A well-known and very handsome 



