LAGERSTBCEMIA 



and white forms. It can be prop, readily by cuttings o£ 

 the ripe wood. In the N., the plants may be lifted in 

 the fall and kept in a cellar. In spring they may be 

 planted out, or flowered under glass. The Crape Myrtle 



■'',26. Crape Myrtle. Laeerstrcemia Indii 

 Natural s 



blooms continuously for 2 or 3 months, beginning in 

 June in the Gulf states. The bark is smooth, as if 

 polished. Several named vars. 



Fl03-aeginaB, Retz. Tree, 50-60 ft., with elliptic or 

 long lanceolate obtuse Ivs. 4-8 in. long: panicle large: 

 fls. 2-3 in. across, varying from rose to purple from 

 morning to evening, the calyx grooved, the petals erose- 

 wavy: capsule 1 in. or more long. India. G.C. III. 

 15:77. — A noble plant in tropical India; also int. in S. 

 Calif. In the Old World sometimes grown under glass. 



L. H. B. 



LAGUNABIA (named for its resemblance to Lagunsea, 

 which is now considered a section of Hibiscus and com- 

 memorates a Spanish botanist, Andres de Laguna, 1494 

 or 1499-15G0, physician to Pope Julius III.). Malvdcew. 

 One species, an Australian tree cult, outdoors in S. Calif, 

 and indoors in Europe. It has large, pale rose fls. like 

 Hibiscus, 23^ in. across, with 5 spreading lobes, acolnmn 

 of stamens and a 5-lobed shield-shaped stigma. It dif- 

 fers from Hibiscus in having no bractlets or only 3, 

 while Hibiscus usually has 5 or more. Lvs. entire, 

 scurf y-tomentose: fls. axillary; calyx 5-toothed: ovary 

 5-celled. 



P4tersonii, G. Don. About 12 ft. high, spotted brown 

 on trunk and branches: lvs. ovate, entire, 2-3 in. long, 

 dark green above, ashy gray beneath: peduncle IH in. 

 long: corolla lobes ovate, covered with minute hairy 

 scales inside, villous outside. B.M. 769 as {Lagnnma 

 Pattrsonia .) 



LAG^BUS (Greek, logon, a hare; onra, a tail). Gra- 

 mineiT. H.^re's tail Grass. Contains a single species, 

 native of the Mediterranean region, and cultivated for 

 ornament, the small white heads being used for dry bou- 

 quets. Spikelets 1-fld., aggregated in a close panicle, 

 forming an ovoid head ; scarious empty glumes persis- 

 tent and clothed with fine woolly hairs. Flowering glume 

 with a dorsal awn. A hardy annual. Seeds sown in fall 

 and plants set out in spring. 



ov^tus, Linn. Culms about 1 ft. high, in bunches: lvs. 

 and sheaths downy. R.H. 1890, p. 488. V. 3: 217 and 247. 

 A. S. Hitchcock. 



LAMARCKIA (J. B. Lamarck, 1744-1829, distinguished 

 French naturalist, and author of the Laraarckian phi- 

 losophy of organic evolution). Gramhiece. Contains a 

 single species, native from Mediterranean region to 

 Afghanistan, and introduced in California. An orna- 

 mental annual grass, often cultivated under the nam-e of 

 Chrysiirus cynosuroides and C. aureus. Spikelets of 

 two sorts, fertile 1-fld., long-awned, surrounded by the 

 long sterile spikelets of many obtuse glumes, arranged 

 in a one-sided crowded panicle Seeds may be sown in 

 the spring, or better in the fall and plants set out in the 

 spring. 



airea, Mcench. Culms 6-12 in. high. R.H. 1890, p. 546. 

 A. S. Hitchcock. 



LAMBKILL. Kalmia angustifolia. 



LAMB'S LETTUCE, Consult Com Sa?0(Z. L. Quarter. 

 Chfiiopodium, particularlyCoiftum, Used as apot-herb. 



LANDRETH 875 



LAMIUH (Greek for throat, referring to the shape of 

 the corolla). LabiAtw. Dead Nettle. About 40 annual 

 and perennial herbs of the Old World, of which several 

 run wild in this country as weeds and others are cult, as 

 hardy border plants. Botanically, they are distinguished 

 by a 2-lipped corolla, of which the tube is somewiiat 

 longer than the calyx, the upper lip ascending and con- 

 cave, and the lower one 3 lobed: stamens 4, in 2 pairs, 

 ascending under the upper lip: fls. in axillary or termi- 

 nal whorls, often rather showy: lvs. opposite, mostly 

 crenate-dentate and petiolate; calyx awl-toothed. Not 

 to be confounded with Nepeta. 



Lamiums are diffuse mostly pubescent or hairy herbs, 

 commonly decumbent at the base and often almost trail- 

 ing. They are of the easiest culture in any open .soil. 

 Useful for rockwork. The cult, kinds are perennial, 

 and are commonly propagated by division. 



macul&tum, Linn. ( L. album and L. purpnreum, Hort., 

 not Linn. 1,. riiririjdtiim, Hort.). Straggling or half- 

 trailing herb, the tips ascending, slightly hairy: lvs. 

 long-petioled (except the uppermost), cordate-ovate, 

 blunt, round-toothed: fls. 1 in. long, ascending in the 

 clusters, the upper lip strongly arched or hooded, the 

 tube 2-3 times longer than the calyx, hairy within. Eu. 

 — Flowers usually purple-red, but sometimes varying to 

 white (when it is known as Jj. album, but the i. album 

 of botanists is a different plant, having pointed and 

 sharp-toothed lvs, ) , The lvs, are usually whitish blotched 

 along the midrib (var, variegdtiim), and in this form 

 it is common about old gardens, trailing in the waste 

 places. The plant is also run wild. Zi. purpnreum of 

 the botanists is annual. 



eiioc^phalum, Benth. Stem much branched, glabrous: 

 lower lvs. long-stalked, puberulent, small, orbicular, 

 somewhat incise-crenate : floral lvs. larger, deeply 

 toothed, sessile or nearly so: calyx villous; corolla 3-4 

 times longer than the calyx, straight, purple. Taurus.— 

 Said by some to be annual. 



Gale6hdolon, Crantz, of Europe, with yellow fls. and 

 sometimes with yellowish foliage, is cult, in the Old 

 World, but it has not appeared in the Amer. trade. 



LAMPB0C6CCUS. See JEchmea. 



LAHDEETH, DAVID, founder of the oldest seed- 

 house in America, was born in 17.52 at Haggerston, North- 

 umberland county, England. He came to America late 

 in the eighteenth century, making Philadelphia his home, 

 and establishing there, in 1784, a nursery and seed busi- 

 ness. Its location, on what was then known as High 

 street, is now covered by the building 1210 and 1212 

 Market street. The raising of trees and production of 

 seeds were conducted on land near by, particularly on a 

 tract at Twelfth and Filbert streets. This locality prov- 

 ing too contracted for the purpose, the nursery and seed 

 grounds were removed in 1789 to the "Neck," then con- 

 sidered far out of town, the place chosen being not far 

 distant from the site of the present arsenal. 



The subiect of the present skntrh, the votinger David 

 Landreth (I'hit,- XI, was b..,-,, i„ I'liil^Mhliiliia in 1802, 

 When of suit.-ilil.- :<ixi- h.- ciit.-rr,! a.-tivfly int.. his father's 

 business, whicli h:ul considerably t-xti iiiled in Philadel- 

 phia, while a branch house had been opened in Charles- 

 ton, S, C, The young man's early duty was that of 

 manager of this Charleston branch. Of the Charleston 

 business, it will suffice here to say that it continued till 

 the era of the civil war, when it came to a sudden end 

 by the act of the Confederate States District Court, which 

 confiscated the real estate and merchandise alike, on 

 April 22, 1862, 



The younger David Landreth, in 1828, succeeded his 

 father as proprietor of the well-established and thriv- 

 ing business in Philadelphia, a business which was to 

 remain highly prosperous for half a century afterwards 

 under his fostering care. His time, however, was not 

 wholly occupied with the details of business, but was 

 turned at an early age towards the literature of hus- 

 bandry and to enterprises of public interest. Among 

 the latter may be mentioned the Philadelphia Horticul- 

 tural Society, of which, in 1827, he was one of the 

 founders and a vice-president, and in 1828 was elected 

 corresponding secretary, which oflice he held for seven 



