THE 



OF THE 



UNIVERSITY 



OF 



UNIVERSAL, HERBAL; 



OR, 



BOTANICAL, MEDICAL, AND AGRICULTURAL 



VOL. II. 



LAC 



; (so called from the celebrated Dominican friar, 

 Father Labat,) a genus of the class Tetrandria, order Mono- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth four- 

 leaved, permanent ; the two opposite leaflets erect ; the two 

 smaller ones ovate, obtuse, concave. Corolla : one-petalled, 

 subcampanulated ; tube shorter than the calix ; border qua- 

 drifid ; divisions upright, obtuse, small ; with two opposite 

 smaller divisions, situated in the partition of the corolla. 

 Stamina: filamenta four, length of the corolla, upright, 

 awl-shaped, contiguous to the pistil ; anthersc sharp-pointed, 

 upright. Pistil: germen roundish, minute, superior; style 

 awl-shaped, length of the stamina ; stigma simple, obtuse. 

 Pericarp: capsule large, roundish, rough, four-celled. Seeds: 

 solitary, oblong, compressed. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. 

 Calix : four-leaved, inferior. Corolla: subcampanulate, four- 

 cleft, with two minute segments in the divisions of the 



corolla. Capsule: four-celled. Seeds: solitary. The 



species are, 



1. Labatia Sessiliflora. Flowers sessile. The stem is 

 shrubby, six feet or more high ; branches alternate, straight, 

 bearing round, upright, rusty, smaller branches ; leaves alter- 

 nate, stalked, two or three inches long, ribbed and veined 

 beneath, shining and silky; flowers whitish, very small ; fruit 

 the size of a nutmeg, roundish, rough, and rusty, ripening 

 in December. Native of Hispaniola. 



2. Labatia Guianensis. Flowers peduncled. This is a tree 

 forty feet high or more, and three feet in diameter, with a 

 russet-coloured wrinkled bark; and a whitish, hard, com- 

 pact wood ; flowers small, greenish; fruit oval, hard, rough 

 with rigid short hairs. Native of Guiana, in the forests by 

 the river Sinemari, flowering and fruiting in November. 



Labrador Tea. See Ledum. 



Laburnum. See Cytisus. 



Lac, or Gum Lac. See Croton Lucciferum. 



Lace Bark. See Daphne Layetto. 



Lachenalia ; a genus of the class Hexandria, order Mono- 



gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: none. Corolla: 



petals six, erected into a tube, oblong, connate at the base, 



unequal, the three exterior ones shorter, often callous at the 



VOL. ii. 66. 



LAC 



tip. Stamina: filamenta six, awl-shaped, upright, growing 

 to the base of the petals, and of the same length with them ; 

 antherse oblong. Pistil: germen superior, subovate; style 

 awl-shaped, length of the stamina ; stigma simple. Pericarp: 

 capsule subovate, three-winger), three-celled. Seeds .' several, 

 globose, affixed to the receptacle. ESSENTIAL CHARAC- 

 TER. Corolla: six-parted; the three outer petals difform. 

 Capsules: three-winged; cells many-seeded. Seeds: globular, 

 affixed to the receptacle. The plants of this genus must be 

 preserved, with other Cape bulbs, in a warm border, covered 

 with glasses, or in a dry-stove or glass-case. They will 

 mostly bear forcing, and their flowering may be hastened by 

 keeping them warm in the stove : they are increased by 

 offsets from the bulbs, or by seeds, when they produce any. 

 The species are, 



1. Lachenalia Orchioides ; Spotted-leaved Lachenalia. 

 Corollas bell-shaped, the three inner petals longer; flowers 

 sessile; leaves lanceolate, shorter than the scape. Bulb round, 

 whitish. The whole plant smooth ; outer petals white, with 

 green tips; inner pale yellow. Native of the Cape. 



2. Lachenalia Pallida; Pale-flowered Lachenalia. Corollas 

 bell-shaped, the three inner petals longer ; flowers on very 

 short peduncles, horizontal ; leaves linear-oblong, longer 

 than the scape. Bulb roundish, flatted a little, the size of a 

 hazel-nut ; petals whitish. Native of the Cape. 



3. Lachenalia Contaminata; Mixed-coloured Lachenalia. 

 Corollas bell-shaped, the three upper petals longer ; flowers 

 peduncled; leaves linear, awl-shaped, channelled; they have 

 dusky red spots scattered over the upper surface. Native 

 of the Cape, 



4. Lachenalia Tricolor; Three-coloured Lachenalia. Corol- 

 las cylindrical, the three inner petals twice the length of the 

 others, emarginate ; flowers peduncled, pendulous. The 

 scape is almost comose with the abundance of awl-shaped 

 bractes that spring out below the upper rudiments of flowers. 

 It varies with yellow, saffron-coloured, blood-red, purple at 

 the tip, and greenish yellow corollas ; also in the proportion 

 between the inner and outer petals, and in the breadth of 



j the leaves. Native of the Cape 

 B 



