1818 LANDSCAPE GARDENING 



LANTANA 



of fifty to one hundred pounds to the acre, according 

 to the varieties used. Rake in the seed lightly and then 

 roll. Never attempt to sow grass seed on a windy day. 

 In the spring a top-dressing of bone-meal should be 

 applied. 



Mow the lawn regularly. Water when needed, but 

 apply so it will fall lightly on the ground. Many lawns 

 are ruined by applying the water with too great force. 



2106. An easy grade for a lawn. 



For the extreme South, Bermuda-grass (Cynodon 

 Dactylori), St. Augustine-, Charleston-, or goose-grass 

 (Stenotaphrum secundatum) are the best. About Miami, 

 Fla., a fine-leaved form of Korean lawn grass, Osterdamia 

 malrella (Zoysia tenuifolid) is very successful, withstand- 

 ing drought well. The Bermuda is a plant of trailing and 

 stoloniferous habit. It is a native of India. It is widely 

 disseminated throughout the South and is a most valu- 

 able and reliable grass for pasture. Unfortunately, with 

 the first approach of frost it turns brown and does not 

 present an attractive appearance during winter. 



When it is not desired to tear up a Bermuda lawn, it 

 can be given a bright and cheerful aspect during winter 

 by first cutting the Bermuda-grass very close, then 

 scarifying same with a rake or small cutaway harrow, 

 the blades set straight so as not to turn up the lawn, 

 applying a liberal amount of bone-meal and sowing 

 a good lawn grass adapted to the locality. Rake this 

 in and roll. 



A Bermuda-grass lawn can be made by cutting the 

 roots in short lengths, chopping with a hatchet, or 

 passing roots through a feed-cutter, and sowing the 

 roots broadcast, and plowing in lightly; or the uncut 

 roots may be planted in furrows, same covered to a 

 depth of 4 inches, the ground then leveled and rolled. 

 The roots may be planted in autumn, or from February 

 until May, but, when they are planted late, care must 

 be taken that the roots are not exposed to the sun so as 

 to dry out. The Bermuda-grass will give excellent 

 results if kept well enriched and frequently mowed. It 

 adapts itself to almost any soil, except that which is 

 extremely wet. 



The St. Augustine-grass is an early-growing peren- 

 nial plant, with flat or channelled leaves. It is found 

 naturally in the pine-barren swamps and ponds from 

 Florida to North Carolina, and it is well adapted to 

 the sandy soil of the coast, even those which are com- 

 monly termed "salt-water lands." It is, therefore, of 

 unquestionable value for such localities. This grass is 

 grown from rootlets, planted in rows a few inches 

 apart, but, to get the best results, the soil must be well 

 prepared and fertilized. It requires frequent applica- 

 tions of the lawn-mower. It is a coarse grass, but has a 

 good color and adapts itself to soils where few other 

 grasses are possible. 



Joint-grass (Paspalum distichum) is a native of the 

 South and is usually found in moist or low grounds. It 

 can be utilized in soils that are too wet to suit Ber- 

 muda, but, at best, makes an indifferent lawn, as it is 

 of low creeping and not sufficiently dense habit. 



For the middle sections of the South, some good mix- 



tures of the different hardier grasses, thoroughly 

 tested, have been made, and when the ground has 

 received the proper preparation, satisfactory results 

 have been attained. 



For the upper or mountainous sections of the South, 

 blue-grass and many of the mixtures of the hardier 

 grasses are very successful. L A. BERCKMANS. 



LANSIUM (from the Malayan name lansa or 

 lanseh). Meliacese. A small group of oriental trees, 

 of which one species is cultivated for its edible 

 fruits. 



The genus is allied to the umbrella tree (Melia) 

 grown in the S. U. S., and the tropical mahogany 

 (Swietenia). Lvs. imparipinnate: fls. produced in 

 axillary panicles; sepals 5, petals 5, the 10 sta- 

 mens formed into a tube: fr. a berry, 5-celled, 

 each cell containing 1 or 2 seeds. Species about 

 4, in India and Malaya. 



domesticum, Jack. LANGSAT. LANSA. LANSEH. 

 LANZON. AYER AYER. A medium-sized, rather 

 slender tree, native of the Malayan Archipelago: 

 Ivs. with 3 or more pairs of elliptical to obovate, 

 alternate, shortly petiolulate Ifts., about 4-6 in. 

 long and 2-3 in. broad: fr. globose or ovate, 1-1 Yi 

 in. long, calyx persistent, the sepals small, dry, 

 brownish; seeds 1 or 2 developed, remainder usually 

 aborted, of variable size, oval; testa membranous. 

 The langsat is frequently seen in the markets of 

 Manila, Canton, Singapore, Penang, and other cities 

 in that part of the world. The round to oval frs. are 

 borne in clusters, and are not unlike loquats in general 

 appearance, except that the color is a dull straw or 

 brownish yellow, and the thick leathery skin, which 

 does not adhere to the flesh, is pubescent on the sur- 

 face. The flesh separates into 5 or less distinct segms. 

 like those of an orange, and is white, translucent, very 

 juicy, and of a subacid pungent flavor, sometimes tast- 

 ing slightly of turpentine, especially if the thin mem- 

 brane which surrounds the segms. gets into the mouth. 

 It is eaten fresh or prepared in various ways. Ward 

 wrote that the langsat "is by many reckoned the finest 

 fruit in the peninsula. The month of July is the season 

 at Malacca when it is had in the greatest perfection." 

 Its season extends to Sept. A variety known as "duku" 

 or "doekoe" is larger than the type, and considered 

 much the better of the two. Both the duku and the 

 langsat are commonly planted in gardens, and spring up 

 along the roadsides. They have recently been planted 

 in S. Fla. and the W. Indies. The duku is produced in 

 smaller clusters than the langsat, and is spherical in 

 form, varying from 1-2 in. diam. The skin is about ^in. 

 thick, leathery, dull brownish yellow in color, covered 

 with a thick grayish pubescence. The flavor is very 

 pleasant and refreshing, scarcely comparable to that of 

 any temperate fr. The seeds retain their vitality for 

 some time, if not allowed to become too dry, and 

 germinate readily when planted in light, loamy soil. 

 Seed prop, is the only method known to be employed 

 in Malaya. p. \\r. POPENOE. 



LANTANA (old name, once applied to a viburnum). 

 Verbendcese. Mostly shrubs or undershrubs, sometimes 

 half-climbing, with opposite or verticillate rough den- 

 tate leaves, and spikes or cymes of small verbena-like 

 flowers; one species or group much grown by florists, 

 and a few others sometimes planted. 



Plant scabrous, hirsute or pubescent: fls. small, red, 

 orange, white or otherwise, in dense spikes or heads, 

 gamopetalous, the calyx very small, the corolla some- 

 what irregularly 4-5-parted but not bilabiate, the corolla- 

 tube slender; stamens 4, didynamous, attached mid- 

 way in the tube, included; ovary 2-loculed, becoming a 

 fleshy or dryish drupe with 2 nutlets : bracts subtending 

 the head often imitate an involucre. Verbena differs 

 in having achene-like nutlets and long-tubular 5- 



