868 



LADRONES 



l.i;lia 



northernmost of the group. The Ladrones lie in an 

 almost straight line north and south. They were cap- 

 tured from Spain in July, 1898, and Guam was retained 

 by the United States chiefly as a coating station. 



The Ladrones were discovered in 1521 by Magellan 

 in the first voyage round the world. They were the 

 first islands in the Pacific to come into continuous 

 contact with European civilization. The aboriginal 

 race, the Chamorros, is extinct, and was replaced 

 chiefly by Tagals from the Philippines. These have 

 deteriorated. 



The chief settlement is Agana, on the island of Guam, 

 ■which contains a majority of the population of the 

 whole group. The Spaniards had but one mail a year 

 between the Ladrones and the Philippines. 



The Ladrones are well wooded, but the original flora 

 has almost vanished. None of the Pacific islands pos- 

 sesses any metal, or any native mammal, save a kind 

 of bat. 



The Ladrones are said to have a more agreeable 

 climate than is common within the tropics. There is 

 moisture at ;\ll tiim-^. Init a so-called "drv season" lasts 





LADRONE 



1222. Ladrones. 



from June to Sept., during which time the northeast 

 trade winds prevail. The rainfall is in most places 

 abundant. The highest part of Guam is 1,500 feet above 

 the sea. 



The Ladrones have exported no fruit to speali of. 

 Cocoanuts and bananas are perhaps the chief fruits. 

 Guava figs and breadfruit grow well. Other products 

 are rice, sugar, indigo, arrow-root, cotton, tobacco, and 

 even wheat. 



One of the best recent accounts of the Ladrone 

 Islands is in Appleton's Annual Cyclopedia for 1898. 

 For maps of the Ladrones, see Century Atlas, and 

 Overland Monthly 33:92. For references to recent lit- 

 erature, see the Cumulative Index of Periodical Litera- 

 ture. There is a book on the history of the Ladrones 

 written in Spanish. It is an octavo of 210 pages pub- 

 lished at Granada in 1886, and entitled Historia de 

 las islas Marianas. The author is Luis de Ibaiiez y 

 Garcia. 



LADY'S EARDROPS. Short-flowered Fuchsias. L. 

 Garters. Phalaris arundinacea, v&t. picta. L. Hantle. 

 Alclii milla vulgaris. L. Slipper. Cypripediums L. 

 Smock or Meadow Cress. Cardaminepratensis. L, Tres- 

 ses, iipii-anthes, 



L^LIA (meaning uncertain). Orchid&cea. A useful 

 and attractive genus of orchids, mostly with large, 



showy fls. borne singly or in 2- to many-fld. racemes, 

 whicli arise from the top of 1-2-lvd. pseudobulbs. The 

 plants greatly resemble Cattleyas, and difl'er only by the 

 presence of 8 perfect pollen masses instead of i, as in 

 Cattleya. Lvs. oblong, coriaceous or fleshy, not plicate : 

 pseudobulbs terminating the annual growth, ovate, cla- 

 vate, fusiform or stem-like, long or sliort, consisting of 

 1 to several thickened internodes, or of slender and 

 quill-like form with merely a small bulbous swelling at 

 base, sheathed with scales and bearing 1 or 2 lvs. at 

 the summit : sepals subequal, free, spreading ; petals 

 wider and sometimes longer, spreading; all usually 

 plane: labellum free from the base of the column, more 

 or less distinctly 3-lobed, the lateral lobes short, erect, 

 folding over the column; middle lobe long, expanded, 

 lanceolate-ovate, etc. : column concave in front, and 

 thus narrowly 2-winged on the edges: pollinia 8, 4 in 

 each locule: scape terminal, long or short, bracted. 



The genus contains about 30 species, dispersed in the 

 maritime provinces of Mexico and (_-fUatemala and in S. 

 Brazil. No species is common to the two widely sepa- 

 rated regions. A single species, L. monophylla, in- 

 habits the mountains of Ja- 

 maica. In their native homes 

 the plants are often found 

 clinging to bare rocks and 

 trees, where they are exposed 

 to the full force of the tropi- 

 cal sun, and, in the wet sea- 

 son, to daily drenching rains. 

 Some of the species grow at 

 great altitudes. Thus, //.««- 

 titmnalia, yar. furfuravea, is 

 always found in alpine re- 

 gions at elevations of 7,500- 

 8,500 ft. For a list of culti- 

 vated kinds, see R. A. Rolfe. 

 G.C. III. 7: 107, 256, 333, 355; 

 and 8:241, 652. 



Laslia may be conveniently 

 divided into groups, as fol- 

 lows: 



Group I (species 1-10).— 

 Pseudobulbs rounded, pyri- 

 form or ovate. The plants 

 of this section are medium- 

 sized, with the pseudobulbs 

 t erm inating each year's 

 growth sessile at intervals 

 on the rhizome, and sheathed 

 at least at first with bract 

 leaves. The scape, except in 

 L. grandiflora, is long and 

 slender, erect, nodding or 

 sub-horizontal, and bears at 

 its end 1 or 2 fis. (L. anceps), or a raceme of 2-7 fls. 

 {L. albida). L. grandiflora, placed here on account of 

 its thickened pseudobulbs, bears greater resemblance to 

 the members of the next group. 



Group II (species 11-13). — Pseudobulbs short-cylin- 

 drical, stem-like, or swollen jointed, i. e., consisting of 

 several internodes and sheathed with bracts. These 

 plants are of dwarf habit, bearing 1-2 very large fls. 

 on short scapes, so that the top of the flower scarcely 

 exceeds the lvs., which are oblong, about 6 in. long, and 

 leathery. 



Group III (species 14-23). — Pseudobulbs long-oblong, 

 fusiform or clavate, tapering below to a sheathed and 

 jointed stalk. This group contains the largest and most 

 showy Laelias. The pseudobulbous stems are tall and 

 tufted, a foot or more in length, forming robust, com- 

 pact, almost bushy plants. The flowering stems of L. 

 siiperbieus are said to attain a height of 12 ft. The ra- 

 cemes bear 3-7 large, handsome flowers. 



Group IV (species 24-26). Pseudobulbs slender, reed- 

 like and tufted, clothed with scales and often somewhat 

 swollen at base. This group includes a few species 

 which are very distinct on account of their bright scar- 

 let or orange-colored fls. and slender, reed-like pseudo- 

 bulbs. Jj. monophyUa is perhaps the smallest of all 

 Laelias, being scarcely over 6 in. high, with pseudobulbs 

 about as thick as a crow-quill. One variety of L. cinna- 

 barina has purple fls. 



