LUFFA 



LUPINUS 



949 



acutingula, Roxbg. (L. fa-lii'la, Cav.). Sing-kwa of 

 Chinese. Fig. 1323. Lvs. rounded, scarcely lobed, very 

 coarsely toothed : ovary 10-ribbed, ripening into a 

 strongly ribbed fruit. Tropics. Gt. 48, p. 136. L.H.B. 



LUfSIA (after Don Luis de Torres, of 

 whose personality little is known). Or- 

 chiddceie. Curious epiphytic herbs, with 

 simple or branched erect .stems, bearing 

 alternate, elongated, ileshy-terete lvs. : lis. 

 sessile, on short lateral spikes; sepals and 

 petioles sub-similar, connivent or half- 

 spreading; labellum aduate to the column, 

 somewhat concave, with small lateral 

 lobes and a large, spreading, entire or bi- 

 fid middle lobe; column short; pollinia 2, 

 on a broad, short pedicel. About 10 spe- 

 cies. These plants are rarely cult. They 

 grow well in any warm or intermediate 

 house. 



tSres, Blume. Spike few-fld. : lateral 

 sepal.* narrower than dorsal, which is 

 similar to the petals: labellum bi-auriculate, oblong- 

 Rulcate, apex bifid. 



L. tires, Lindl.=Sarcanthus teretifolius. 



Heinrich Hasselbring. 



LUNABIA (Luna, Latin for moon; name referring to 

 the silvery white partition of the large pods). Criicif- 

 era. Moonwort. Honesty. Two herbs of Europe and 

 W. Asia, both cult, in old gardens. Lvs. rather large, 

 simple, broad or more or less cordate: lis. purple, in 

 terminal racemes or panicles, rather large and showy; 

 fr. stalked in the calyx, becoming a very large, flat, disk- 

 shaped silicle, with deciduous valves and a thin, per- 

 sistent septum: seeds winged, 2-4 in each compartment. 

 The plants are easy of cultivation under any ordinary 

 garden conditions. They are interesting for their showy 

 fls., but are grown mostly for their great flat pods, which 

 are used in winter bouquets. They are called "Honesty " 



because the seeds can be seen through the pods. Prop, 

 by seeds ; or the second species rarely by division. The 

 species sometimes escape from gardens. 

 Annua, Linn. (i. 6(Y?iriis,Moench). Fig. 1324. Loose- 



1323. Luffa acutangula (Xl-9). 



hairy plant, 1^-2J^ ft. tall, branching as it matures: 

 lvs. somewhat cordate or halberd-cordate, coarsely and 

 irregularly toothed, stalked : fls. numerous, pink-purple, 

 fragrant, in late spring or early summer: pods about 

 2 in. long and somewhat narrower, very flat, rounded 

 at the ends, tipped with the persistent style. Europe. 

 R. H. 18.57, p. 30. — Frequent in old-fashioned gardens. 

 There is a recent form with ■ handsomely variegated 

 lvs.; also a white-flowered form. Annual and biennial. 

 rediviva, Linn. Differs from the last in being per- 

 ennial, the fls. smaller and lighter colored (often gray- 

 ish purple), and the pod elliptic or lance-elliptic, and 

 tapering toeither end. Europe. — Less common and less 

 valuable than the other. l_ jj_ g^ 



LUNGWORT. Meriensia. 



LUPlNUS ( from the Latin lupus, a wolf ; because a 

 crop of Lupines was supposed 



to destroy fertility). Ijegumi- 

 tidsw. Lupine. A group of 

 about 80 species mostly confined 

 to western N. America, a few 

 growing in eastern N. America 

 and in the Mediterranean region. 

 Most are annuals or herbaceous 

 perennials, one species in cult, 

 being shrubby. All are showy 

 plants with conspicuous flowers 

 in terminal racemes, those of 

 the species in cult, being mostly 

 verticillate. The flowers are 

 blue, white or yellow, or a union 

 of these, papilionaceous and 

 free-blooming. AH are of easy 

 cult, in any garden soil, except 

 that they are said not to suc- 

 ceed in soil containing lime. 

 They are adapted to borders 

 in masses, and to all places 

 in which low -growing showy 

 herbs would be found. Some 

 make good bedding plants, 

 others cut-flowers. They are 

 propagated by seed, the peren- 

 nials also by division. They do 

 not bear transplanting when 

 once established, hence it is 

 recommended to sow seed where 

 the plants are finally desired. 

 A few species are of value eco- 

 nomically for soiling or plowing 

 under. Leaves usually digitate, 

 w ith 5-15 entire leaflets : flow- 

 eis with calyx deeply bilabiate, 

 5 toothed, unequal; corolla with 

 smiple erect, broadly ovate stan- 

 dard, having strongly reflexed 

 sides; wings united at the apex 

 and enclosing the keel; stamens 



