30 



L EM 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



LEO 



The number of parts of the fruit is sometimes increased by 

 a fourth. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix : five-cleft. 

 Petals: five, jagged, inserted into the receptacle. Capsules: 

 three-celled. The species are, 



1. Legnotis Elliptica. Leaves elliptic ; flowers pedicelled. 

 ---Native of Jamaica. 



2. Legnotis Cassipourea. Leaves ovate ; flowers sessile. 

 This is a middle-sized tree ; the trunk five feet or more in 

 height, branchy at top ; bark gray ; flowers axillary ; petals 

 white. Native of Guiana, where it flowers in January. 



Lemna; a genus of the class Monojcia, order Diandria. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Male Flower. Calix: one- 

 leafed, roundish, gaping on the side, obliquely dilated out- 

 wards, obtuse, spreading, depressed, large, entire. Corolla : 

 none. Stamina: filamenta two, awl-shaped, incurved, length 

 of the calix; antherae twin, globose. Pistil: germen ovate; 

 style short, permanent ; stigma obscure. Pericarp: abor- 

 tient. Female Flower, in the same plant with the male. Calix : 

 as in the male. Corolla : none. Pistil: germen subovate ; 

 style short, permanent ; stigma simple. Pericarp : capsule 

 globose, with a point, one-celled. Seed: some, oblong, sharp 

 at each side, nearly the length of the capsule, striated on 

 one side. ESSENTIALCHARACTER. Male. Calix: one-leafed. 

 Corolla : none. Female. Calix: one-leafed. Corolla : none. 

 Style: one. Capsule: one-celled. These plants are all an- 

 nual, and float on stagnant water. They were long thought 

 by some to be cryptogamous plants ; but their fructifications 

 are now well ascertained. The species are, 



1. Lemna Trisulca; Ivy-leaved Duck's-meqt. Leaves 

 petioled, lanceolate; stem dichotomous, filiform, flatted, pro- 

 liferous. It flowers from June to September. Native of 

 most parts of Europe, in ditches and stagnant waters. 



2. Lemna Minor; Least Duck's-meat, or Duckweed. 

 Leaves sessile, flattish on both sides ; roots solitary. The 

 leaves are very small, collect into heaps by twos and threes, 

 and form extensive green plats on stagnant waters, covering 

 the ditches. Each leaf drops a single radicle. This plant 

 affords nourishment not only to ducks, but to the Fresh-water 

 Polype, the Phalsena Lemnata, &c. Its quick and extensive 

 propagation make it troublesome in some cases ; but it 

 should always be borne in mind that it has been proved to 

 arrest a vast quantity of inflammable air from putrid water, 

 which it converts into vital elastic air fit for respiration. Hill 

 says that the juice of this plant, taken in a dose of four or 

 five drops upon sugar, works powerfully by urine, and opens 

 obstructions of the liver; jaundice is said to have been cured 

 by it alone. It flowers from June to September ; Linneus says, 

 in the dog-days; and is common in most parts of Europe. 



3. Lemna Gibba; Gibbous Duck's-meat, or Duckweed. 

 Leaves sessile, hemispherical underneath; roots solitary. The 

 leaves are generally tinged with purple, the upper surface 

 very convex and white. It flowers in July and August. 

 Native of several parts of Europe, in ditches and ponds. 



4. Lemna Polyrhiza; Greater Duck's-meat, or Duckweed. 

 Leaves sessile; roots clustered. The leaves are much larger 

 than those of the common sort; they are thick, succulent, 

 and inflated. Linneus says it floats on the surface of the 

 water on the appearance of the swallows, and sinks again at 

 their disappearance. All the species sink in the winter, and 

 rise again in the spring. It flowers in July and August. 

 Native of most parts of Europe, in ditches and ponds. 



5. Lemna Obcordata. Leaves sessile, obcordate ; roots 

 clustered. Native of the East Indies. 



6. Lemna Arhiza. Leaves in pairs, rootless. This minute 

 species is not bigger than an ordinary pin's head. Native of 

 the East Indies. 



Lemniscia; a genus of the class Polyandria, order Mono- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth one- 

 leafed, five-toothed, acute, short. Corolla: petals five, 

 linear, long, acute, recurved, growing to the nectary; nec- 

 tary cup-shaped, fleshy, very short, girding the germen. 

 Stamina: filamenta numerous, (seventy to eighty,) capillary, 

 longer than the corolla, inserted into the nectary; antherae 

 roundish, small. Pistil: germen roundish, immersed into 

 the nectary; style filiform, length of the stamina; stigma 

 obtuse. Pericarp: capsule five-celled. Seeds: solitary. 

 ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: five-toothed. Corolla: 

 five-petalled, recurved. Nectary: cup-shaped, girding the 



germen. Pericarp: five-celled. Seeds: solitary. The 



only known species is, 



1. Lemniscia Guianensis. The trunk rises from fifteen to 

 twenty feet high, by a foot in diameter. Abundance of 

 twisted branches spread in every direction : leaves alternate, 

 smooth, firm, entire, ovate, acuminate, on a short petiole ; 

 the largest are five inches in length, and two in breadth ; 

 flowers at the ends of the shoots, very numerous, in large 

 corymbs, on a woody peduncle; corolla of a fine coral red. 

 The wood is white and compact. It flowers in August. 

 Native of Guiana, where it is called jouantan. 



Lemon Tree. See Citrus. 



Lentil. See Ervum. 



Lcontice; a genus of the class Hexandria, order Monogy- 

 nia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth six-leaved, 

 caducous ; leaflets linear, expanding, the alternate ones 

 smaller. Corolla: petals six, ovate, twice the length of the 

 calix ; nectary of six scales, which are semi-ovate, spreading, 

 foot-stalked, inserted into the claws of the petals ; equal. 

 Stamina: filamenta six, filiform, very short; antheree upright, 

 two-celled, two-valved, gaping at the base. Pistil: germen 

 oblong-ovate; style short, somewhat columnar, obliquely 

 inserted into the germen; stigma simple. Pericarp: berry 

 hollow, globose-acuminate, inflated, one-celled, subsucculent. 

 Seeds: few, globose. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: 

 six-leaved, deciduous. Corolla : six-petalled. Nectary : six- 

 leaved, placed on the claws of the corolla, spreading. 



The species are, 



1. Leoiitice Chrysogonum ; Pinnated Lion's Leaf. Leaves 

 pinnate; common petiole simple. Both this and the next 

 species have large tuberous roots about the size of those of 

 Cyclamen, covered with a dark brown bark. The flowers of 

 both also are upon naked peduncles; in the first yellow, in 

 the second smaller and paler. Native of the islands of the 

 Archipelago, and of the corn-fields about Aleppo; flowering 

 at Christmas. They seldom flower here till the beginning of 

 April, and do not produce seeds in our climate. To propa- 

 gate them, the seeds should be procured from abroad in sand, 

 and sown as soon as they arrive, and covered with glasses in 

 winter. In spring, after the plants appear, let them have free 

 air in mild weather. If they are not too close, let them 

 remain unremovcd till the second year; but where they are 

 very close, take up a part of the roots in October, and plant 

 them close to a warm wall. In November lay some old tan- 

 ner's bark over the surface, three or four inches thick; remove 

 this in March, before the roots begin to push, leaving a thin 

 covering to prevent the spring winds from drying t'ne ground. 

 These roots should have a dry loose soil, and must be seldom 

 removed. October is the best time for removing them. 

 These, like most other tender bulbs, do best in a south 

 border, in front of a green-house or stove covered with glasses, 

 They are very difficult to preserve, for the roots will not 

 thrive in pots ; and in the full ground, the frost frequently 

 destroys them in winter, especially when young. 



