LOPHANTHUS 



LOPHANTHCS (Greek, crested flower; application 

 not evident). Lnhiatm. Of tliis genus we cultivate 2 

 species of hardy herbaceous perennials, which are rather 

 tall and coarse and bear spikes of more or less purplish 

 fls. in summer. The geniis contains 7 species, all from 

 America or N. E. Asia. Lvs. serrate, veiny, petioled, 

 lower usually subcordate and upper ovate: fls. small, in 

 dense sessile whorls crowdiil into terminal spikes, 

 which may be interni|itiMl IpcIhw; stamens exserted; 

 anthers separated or distiiiit, not approximate in pairs, 

 their cells parallel or nearly so. Of minor value. 



anisitus, Benth. Giant Hyssop. Height 2-3 ft. : lvs. 

 ovate, anise-scented when crushed, white beneath: fls. 

 blue; calyx teeth tinged purple or violet. July, Aug. 

 Prairies, Wis. to Rockies. B.R. 15:1282. -This .species 

 grows 3-5 ft. high, on dry hills, and has pale purple 

 flowers. 



scrophulariaefdliuB, Benth. Height 4-6 ft. : lvs. not 

 anise-scented, not white beneath: fls. dull purplish; 

 calyx teeth whitish. Borders of thickets, N. Y. to Wis. 

 and N. 0. — This plant grows 2 ft. high and has laven- 

 der-blue flowers in June. 



LOPHOSPERMUM. See Mam-anaia. 



LORDS AND LADIES. Arum maciilatum. 



LOQTTAT. See Eriobotrya Japonicu. 



LOTTTS meant several things to the ancients: (1) 

 the Greek Lotus, a leguminous plant on which horses 

 fed. This was proliahly wliat we call to-day Lotas cor- 



niculatus, the r(.iii n t'.in Iv tMuf Trefoil of temperate 



regions. (2) t\ir i v r. hcmh L.,iu^, an African shrub, the 

 fruit of which \va^ caii-]! I.y .•.rtain North African tril)es 

 who were called Loins eafeis. The fruit was said to be 

 honey-sweet, the size of an olive and in taste like a date. 

 This was probaldy Z/,-///i/i/(.s Lotas, a prickly shrub 

 whose fruit is, howevei-. considered inferior to that of 

 the common ju,jube, Zi::>ij'lf us snii m . Other conjectures 

 have been: Geltls aasfrnlis. a ir.-e which has a small, 

 sweet berry; Nitrarta tmliiilntii , a thorny desert shrub 

 whose succulent fruit has a stimulating quality, and 

 Rhnmnus Lotus, another North African plant. Euro- 

 pean Lotus is a name for Diospyros Lotos, a kind of 

 date plum which is cult, iu S. Eu., but the fruit is hardly 

 edible. (3) The Egyptian Lotus or Sacred Lily of the Nile. 

 This is Nymphrea io(«s, which, like the Hindu Lotus, 

 has rose-colored as well as white flowers. American 

 cultivators at the present time almo^t universally con- 

 sider that the true Egyptian Lotus i^ .\i I n mtuiim spe- 

 cios}im, now called Nelambo, but NfJtn,>l'nint .sjn riosum 

 is not a native of Esypt. (tl The Hindu anil Chinese 

 Lotus, also called tin- Samel .ii- Pythagorean Bean. This 

 is Nelumbo Imtirn. l.rtlir known as Nelamhium speci- 

 osum. The name Lotus was doubtless used for other 

 water lilies, particularly the blue-flowered Kymjyhma 

 caratea. These plants are described in this work. See 

 Nelamho and Nymplicea. 



Lotus of the botanists is a genus of 50-100 species, 

 found in temperate regions: herbs or subshrubs, gla- 

 brous, silky or hirsute: lvs. with 3 Ifts. crowded at the 

 apex of the petiole and commonly 2 joined to the stem 

 and resembling stipules: fls. pea-shaped, yellow, red, 

 rosy or white, often iu axillary, few-fld. umbels, rarely 

 solitary; calyx lobes longer than the tube; keel beaked: 

 pod oblong or linear. Leguminosas. 



A. Li's. threadlike : fls. odd, not pea-shaped. 



BerthoUtii, Masf. {L. peliorhfincas. Hook. L.peli/or- 

 ensis, Hort. ). Small, much-branched, slender bush, with 

 a silvery hue: Ifts. whorled, 8-9 lines long: fls. VA in. 

 long, in loose clu.sters of about 20 toward the end of the 

 branches, short-pedicelled, scarlet or crimson fading to 

 orange; standard recurved like a horn; keel acuminate, 

 longer than the_ wings. Cape Verde, Canaries. B M. 

 6733. R.H. 1895:308. — Peliorhyncus means bruised or 

 discolored nose. Called "Coral Gem" in catalogues. 

 Grown chiefly in hanging baskets. Prop, by division or 

 cuttings. 



LOriSIANA 



945 



AA. Lrs. not Ihr.'iuhlilu'.- fls . pro-shaped. 

 B. Fts.yelUa-. 



corniculatus, Linn. Bied'.s-foot Trefoii,. Babies' 

 Slippkivs. Perennial, prostrate or ascending, a few in. 

 to 2 ft. liigli. glabrous or hairy: Ifts. obovate or ovate, 

 )4 in. long, the 2 stipular ones broader and very oblique: 

 fls. yellow, often tinged bright red, 5-10 in an umbel ; 

 calyx lobes about as long as the tube. Temp, regions 

 and Australia. Var. fldre-pldno has showy double fls.— 

 A hardy trailer for covering dry banks and rockwork, 

 blooming all summer and autumn. Also grown for 

 forage. 



BB. Fls. pink or white. 



auatrilis, Andr. Perennial, diffuse, sometimes sub- 

 shrubby, glabrous or pubescent: Ifts. narrower than in 

 L. corniciilatus, and the stipular ones less dissimilar, 

 but varying from obovate and under M in. long, to 

 linear and 1-1}^ in. long: fls. usually pink, but varying 

 from white to purple-red. Australia. B.M. 1.3G5. 

 L.B.C. 11:1063 and B. .i:211 (as L. atl,idHs).-lnt. 1900 

 by i'ranceschi. 



BBB. Fls. dark purple oi- dark red. 



C. Lffs. linear-lanceolate. 



JacobSeus, Linn. Perennial, subshrubby: fls. about 3 



in a flat-topped cluster, dark purple, almost black. 



Cape Verde. B.M. 79.— Treated as a tender annual 



bedding plant. 



cc. Lfts. obovate to elliptic. 



Tetragon61ohus, Linn. Winged Pea. Annual trailer: 

 fls. solitary or twin, purplish cardinal-red. Mediterra- 

 nean region. B.M. 1.^1. — Tetragonolobus w.as once con- 

 sidered a separate genus, largely because of the 4 leafy 

 wings of the pod. Grown chiefly for food, the pods 

 being eaten when young and the .seeds, when roasted, 

 substituted for coffee. Seeds sown in drills in April. 

 Plants require no care except water during drought. 



L. Balambensis, a pink-fld. Abyssinian pl.ant, was int. to 

 American trade by Franeeschi, who says it was originally sent 

 out by HannriaTin \ I'o., Naples, Italy, and is not worth cult.— 

 L.Camn n Hsis fh<nl<tntdus is not in Inde-\ Kewensis. Franees- 

 chi writi - t li.ii 11 Ills yellow fls. and is desirable for rockeries 

 and haat;ini; liask.ts: that it is not far from L. corniculatus, 

 but has a (UlTerent habit; and that it was oflFered many years 

 ago by Wildpret of Orotana and later by Albert Schenbel of 

 Hamburg. ^ jj 



LOUISIANA (Fig. 1320) is situated at the extreme 

 lower limit of the great Mississippi system, bordering 

 on the Gulf of Mexico. These bodies of water have an 

 important bearing upon the climate, and make it pos- 

 sible to grow some of the subtropical fruits. The pre- 

 vailing wind is from the south, somewhat cool and always 

 laden with moisture, and the southern portion of the 

 state, being only about 30 feet aliove the sea^ level, re- 

 ceives the heaviest rainfall, 70 im-hrs. while t lie northern 

 portion, being more elevated and further from the gulf, 

 has an annual rainfall of 45 to 50 inches. This is, as a 

 rule, well distributed throughout the state, the seasons 

 of greatest drought being early spring and early autumn. 

 The highest recorded summer temperatures run from 

 98° along the Gulf coast, to 102° in the northern part of 

 the state, while the average winter temperature is 56°. 

 Occasionally a northwestern blizzard reaches down 

 into the state, causing a heavy fall in temperature, ac- 

 companied with sleet, and once iu a great while, snow. 

 There was a temperatui-e of 9° in 1895, and 13 inches of 

 snow. A minimum of 15° below zero was subsequently 

 recorded in northern Louisiana. These occasional bliz- 

 zards have forced the culture of tropical fruits down to 

 the section immediately bordering on the Gulf. As the 

 soil has such an important bearing on the character of 

 the fruit, a rough classification of the different kinds 

 is here given. 



First: The Sandy ffills and Uplands. — Theseoccufj 

 the northwestern portion of the state, along with a sec- 

 tion in the eastern part, south of the state of Mississippi. 

 The lands are characterized by sandy soils, with pine 

 and oak forests, and produce the best apples, stone- 

 fruits and berries. 



Second: The Bluff Lands. — These occhpy a broken 

 strip, running parallel with the Mississippi, from 30 to 



