LARKSPUR LAU 11 I N A'.. 



given as to the immediate cause of it. It has occur- 

 red to single trnes in the midst of hundreds of sound 

 ones, on poor thin gravels and on rich loams, and on 

 both wet and dry soils ; whilst in other situations, 

 where all these varieties of soil and circumstances 

 exist, nothing of the kind has been observed. Many 

 eminent arborictilturists'are now studying 1 the matter, 

 and it is to be hoped that some clue will be disco- 

 vered, which will lead to the cause of the failure. 



The larices differ from the cedars by being deci- 

 duous. There are four species the common, the 

 . daurian, the red or small fruited, and the black or 

 pendulous. The last is chiefly remarkable for the 

 graceful curve its leading shoot assumes, drooping to- 

 wards the ground when about fifteen or twenty feet 

 in height, and forming a natural arch of extreme ele- 

 gance and beauty. The red is a slow-growing tree ; 

 and its timber is so close and heavy that it will hardly 

 swim. 



LARKSPUR is the genus Delphinium of Tourne- 

 fort, an extensive family of beautiful flowering annuals 

 and perennials, chiefly natives of Europe. The 

 D. grandiflorum, and its varieties, are among the 

 most splendid ornaments of the flower garden ; and 

 the great variety of colours in the annual species 

 makes them universally admired. 



LARVA. The technical term given to that state 

 of the life of an insect immediately succeeding its 

 escape from the egg, and previous to its assumption 

 of the pupa state. See INSECT and CATERPILLAR. 



LASIOCAMPA (Schrank). A genus of large 

 lepidopterous insects, belonging to the section Noc- 

 turna, Latreille, family Bonibycidce, and containing the 

 egger moths, a name given to these insects on ac- 

 count of the compact egg-like cocoon which they spin. 

 The spiral tongue of the perfect insect is obsolete, 

 the palpi minute, the antennae strongly bipectinated, 

 wings strong and rounded, the legs scarcely hairy. 

 The larva? are hairy, woolly bears as they are termed 

 in some parts of the country, and roll themselves up 

 in a coil when disturbed. The type is the Bombyx 

 rubi, or fox-egger ; and there are four or five other 

 British species. Latreille introduces several other 

 genera into the group, such as Odonestis potatoria, 

 Gastrop&cha t/i/frctfo!ia, &c. 



LASIOSPERMUM (La Gasca). A genus of 

 ornamental trailing plants, natives of the south of 

 Europe. They belong to Composite. The hardy 

 species appear in the flower border, and were for- 

 merly called Santolina. 



LATHR^EA. (Linnaeus). The L. squamaria is a 

 very curious British parasitical plant. The roots at- 

 tach themselves to those of trees or shrubs, and thence 

 extract nourishment. The flowers are didynamous, 

 and the plant belongs to the natural order Oroban- 

 cliecE. This plant is rather rare, and found only in 

 dry woods among leaf-mould. Its English name is 

 toothwort, from the shape and colour of its bracteous 

 scales. 



LATHROBIUM (Gravenhorst). A genus of 

 rove beetles (Brochelytra ; sub-family StaphyRmdes), 

 having the body long, slender, and nearly cylindric, 

 with the last joint of the maxillary palpi minute arid 

 pointed ; the antennae are inserted near the base of 

 the mandibles, and the anterior tarsi are dilated in 

 both sexes ; last joint long. Fifteen British species. 

 Type Sfaph. c/ongatus, Liiinsvus. 



LATHYRUS (Linnaeus). A genus of elegant 

 climbing plants, chieflv natives of Europe. Class and 



NAT. HIST. VOL." II I 



order D/adf//i/iiri Dcc'imir'm, ami natural order 1. 

 ii)i<i,s(K. Many are ornamental, and some \ery 

 useful as agricultural plants. In ihis genus, we find 

 the everlasting pea (/, H pea (L. 



odomtuf;), the Tangier pea(L. T<r,iitaiutx), the broad- 

 leaved everlasting pea (L. frififo/hix), the chichling 

 vetch (L. sativti.?), and the hairy vetch (L. hirtus) ; 

 the two latter agricultural. 



LATIRA. A genus of molluscs constituted by 

 De Montfort, but properly belonging to the genus 

 Fuxus, with which it is now classed. 



LATRIDIUS (Herbst). A genus of minute 

 coleopterous insects of doubtful situation, placed by 

 Latreille amongst the Xi/fofi/iaga, arid by Stephens 

 in the family JKngidce, having the abdomen oval and 

 broader than the head and thorax, the basal joint of 

 the antennae very large and globular, terminal joint 

 large, palpi very minute. The type is [the Tenebrio 

 lardarim of DeGeer, by whom the transformations of 

 this little beetle were observed, and of which he found 

 the Iarva3 feeding upon cured pork. Marsham cal'ed 

 this group Corlicnria ; but some of the smaller species 

 having been considered as generically distinct, Herbst's 

 prior name was retained for the typical species, and 

 Matshem's given to the others. There are about 

 twenty-four species of both groups. 



LAUREL is the common name of a great many 

 very different plants, but properly belongs only to the 

 Laurus nobilis of Willdenow, or sweet bay of English 

 authors. The genus Lauras includes above twenty- 

 six beautiful trees and shrubs, many of them emi- 

 nently useful, and all highly ornamental. Many are 

 natives of tropical countries, where they assume the 

 character of lofty or timber trees ; those in this conn- 

 try are ranked as stove-plants. The North Ame- 

 rican species are mostly deciduous shrubs, and thrive 

 in our shrubberies. The genus was much more 

 extensive than it now is, as the cinnamon, the cassia, 

 the camphor, and the sweet cinnamon, were all inclu- 

 ded bv Linnaeus and others. The laurels and some 

 congenerous plants are associated in the natural order 

 Liturinc(B, which see. 



LAUREL CHERRY is the Ccrnxus laurnrcrasm 

 of Loiseleur Deslongchamps, the common laurel of 

 our shrubberies ; and the Portugal laurel is the Ccrti- 

 sus Lusitttnica of the same author, 



LAUREST1NE is the Viburnum tinus of Lin- 

 naeus, a common ornamental plant in every flower 

 garden. This favourite plant is easily propagated by 

 layers, or even by cuttings with the necessary care. 



LAURINE^E. A natural order, containing, ac- 

 cording to the last authorities, seven genera and fifty- 

 four species of trees and shrubs bearing tine foliage, 

 but with inconspicuous flowers. By botanists, they 

 are easily recognised by the singular circumstance of 

 their anthers being from two to four-celled ; the 

 valves of each are hinged as it were to the upper ed<re 

 of each cell, and opening from the base upwards. 

 The germen is free, one-celled, and the ovule solitary 

 and pendulous. The style simple, and the stigma 

 obtuse. The fruit is fleshy and indehiscent, often 

 surrounded by a large persistent calyx. The seed is 

 without albumen, and without, arillas ; the straight 

 embryo large and inverted, the radicle short and su- 

 perior, the cotyledons somewhat convex, fleshy, and 

 the two-leaved plumula conspicuous. 



The Lauriiiecc are divided into two sub-types : the 

 first contains the leafy arborescent aromatic species, 

 the second those which are leafless, herbaceous, and 

 C 



