1764 



LABYRINTHS 



LACHENALIA 



sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Fig. 2054 is the 

 plan of an English labyrinth of two centuries ago. It 

 would be vandalism to destroy so fine an example of a 

 style of gardening no longer fashionable, but folly to 

 copy it in a modern garden. Mazes are made of clipped 

 evergreens of various kinds. 



2053. Laburnum anagyroides. ( X 1 A) 



LACUNA (one of the names of Helen, which Lindley 

 states may be applied to this plant on account of its 

 beauty; but he adds it may also be derived from Lakis, a 

 cleft, alluding to the divisions of the lip) . Orchidacese. 

 A little-known group of epiphytic orchids inhabiting 

 Central America and Mexico. 



Pseudobulbs rather long, ovoid, smooth at first: Ivs. 

 large, elliptic-pointed and contracted into a petiole, pli- 

 cate venose : raceme pendent from the base of the pseu- 

 dobulbs, loose, bearing up to 10 medium-sized fls.; 

 sepals and petals nearly equal, elliptical, half-spread- 

 ing; labellum equaling the petals, articulated to the 

 base of the column, clawed, with the lateral lobes 

 incurved, terminal larger, spreading and narrowed at 

 the base to a broad claw; column rather long, winged, 

 hooded at the top; pollinia 2 on a simple stipe. Only 2 

 species. 



The plants should be grown in baskets or on blocks 

 of wood like stanhopeas: if potted the racemes are 

 likely to bury themselves in the soil. At the end of 

 October, water should be almost entirely withheld for a 

 few weeks. The flower-stalks appear in spring. 



bicolor, Lindl. (Lueddemdnnia Sanderiana, Kranzl.). 

 Racemes drooping, about 18 in. long, bearing 9 or 10 

 fls.; fls. greenish yellow, covered externally with short 

 hairs; petals with 3 purple streaks; labellum hairy, 

 spotted with purple. Discovered about 1843 in Guate- 

 mala, at an elevation of 7,000 ft. B.R. 30:50. Var. 

 glabrata, Lem. Fls. everywhere nearly glabrous, 

 creamy white. Not in the American trade. I. H. 1:33. 



Var. Slba, Hort. Fls. yellowish white, without purple 

 markings. 



spectabilis, Reichb. f. Fls. about 1 in. diam., whitish, 

 suffused with pink and speckled with purple; sepals 

 concave orbicular; petals smaller, connivent. Costa 

 Rica. Mex. (?). B.M. 6516. Far more handsome than 

 the former, but not advertised in Amer. 



HEINRICH HASSELBRING. 



LACE-BARK: Lagetta; also Gay a and Hoheria. 

 LACE-LEAF, LATTICE-LEAF: Aponogeton. 



LACHENALIA (Werner de Lachenal, 1736-1800, pro- 

 fessor of botany at Basel). Including Scillopsis. 

 Liliacese. CAPE COWSLIP. Small Cape bulbs that are 

 easily flowered in a cool greenhouse in early spring or 

 even in winter; some of them are useful also for the 

 window-garden. 



Plant comprised of a tunicated bulb, a leafless 

 peduncle or scape bearing a raceme or spike of fls. in 

 shades of red and yellow, sometimes white, and 

 usually 2 Ivs. at the base of the scape : perianth tubular, 

 persistent, the 3 outer segms. oblong and slightly 

 swollen near the apex, the 3 inner segms. commonly 

 longer and obtuse-spatulate; stamens 6, attached in 

 the perianth-tube; style long and slender, with capitate 

 stigma: caps, loculicidally 3-valved, with turgid black 

 seeds. Species about 50, in S. Afr. They have a 

 remarkable range of color, and with good management 

 may be kept in an attractive condition for 2 months or 

 more. There are species with bell-shaped fls. and some 

 in which the fls. are all more or less erect, but the 

 favorite types are the long, cylindrical, pendulous fls. 

 with the brilliant red and yellow colors. But few 

 species are cult., the most popular being L. tricolor, 

 particularly its var. Nelsonii and some of the recent 

 forms with personal names. L. pendula is perhaps 

 second ~in popularity, the others being known chiefly 

 to bulb fanciers. Lachenalias are very distinct in 

 coloring and general appearance. They usually have 

 2 Ivs. (sometimes 5 in. cult.), rarely 1, and the bulbs 

 are globose, tunicated, and about 1 A~\ in. thick. An 

 exceptionally strong bulb, under the most favorable 

 conditions sends up 3 or 4 erect fl.-stalks 9 in. high, 

 with as many as 40 fls., each 1-1 K in. long. Under 

 careless treatment the Ivs. and fl.-stalks are weaker, and 

 bear perhaps 6-12 fls. Lachenalias are good subjects 

 for hanging-baskets. 



It is well to make one job of it, planting freesias and 

 lachenalias together. Six are planted in a 6-inch pot, 

 in good rich loam. They probably do as well without 

 leaf-soil, if the drainage is good. They are stored in a 

 well-protected coldframe until late in November, but 

 might be kept longer, as a pinch of frost will not hurt 

 them. After they are brought into the greenhouse, and 

 make good growth, plenty of water may be given, and, 

 occasionally, liquid manure. A night temperature of 

 50 F. will be found about right, but they scarcely 

 bear forcing until the flowering scapes show. If forced 

 before the bulbs show, the flowers are often malformed. 

 They last in bloom from six to eight weeks, after which 

 follows the same routine. After blooming, the plants 

 should be set on a shelf in a light position and watered 

 as carefully as before the blooming season, less water 

 being given as signs of maturity appear; viz., discolored 

 leaves and withered flower-stems. When thoroughly 

 ripened, they are stored in the pots they have grown 

 in and kept quite dry until the month of August. 

 They must be repotted then. If by chance drip should 

 strike the soil, the plants may be found starting into 

 growth. The bulbs multiply rapidly, more than doub- 

 ling in a season. Fully one-third of the extra bulbs will 

 be serviceable, and still more would make bloom of 

 less decorative value. There are many more bulblets 

 which can be sown on the borders of carnation or 

 violet benches, a large number making good-sized 



