LUETKEA 



LUNARIA 



1921 



related to Spiraea, but differs in its habit, the 3-cleft 

 Ivs., in the carpels being dehiscent on both sutures and 

 in the stamens being connate at the base. It is best 

 adapted for rockeries and to be treated like other alpine 

 plants; it is rarely seen in cult. Prop, is by greenwood 

 cuttings and division. The only species is L. pectinata, 

 Kuntze (Spiraea pectinata, Torr. & Gray. Eriogynia 

 pectinata, Hook.). Lvs. 3-cleft, with linear lobes trifid 

 at the apex, bright green, with the petiole J^^in. long: 

 racemes 1-2 in. long; fls. white, ^in. across. Alaska to 

 Calif., in the high mountains. Bot. Gaz. 15:241, pi. 14. 

 Hooker, Fl. Bor. Am. 88. ALFRED REHDER. 



LUFF A (luff is the Arabic name). Cucurbitacese. 

 RAG GOURD. DISH-CLOTH GOURD. VEGETABLE SPONGE. 

 About 8 species of annual tendril-climbing herbs, inhab- 

 iting the tropics of the Old and New Worlds, mostly in 

 the former. Lvs. 5-7-lobed: tendrils simple or multifid: 

 fls. monoecious or direcious, the staminate ones in a 

 long-stalked raceme or cluster, the pistillate solitary 

 and shorter-peduncled; calyx bell-shape or top-shape, 

 strongly 5-lobed; corolla of 5 soft yellow or whitish 

 petals, sometimes ragged-edged; stamens usually 3, 

 borne in the calyx-tube: fr. a long, gourd-like, 3-celled 

 pepo, becoming dry when ripe and the fibrous interior 

 sponge-like. In the South it has been called "Cali- 

 fornia okra." 



The luff as have come into more or less prominence in 

 American gardens, being an importation from the trop- 

 jcs, and China and Japan. In other countries, the fruit 

 is eaten when young, being cooked like squash or served 

 in soups and stews. The young fruit is sometimes 

 sliced and dried. (See Georgeson, A. G., Sept., 1892, and 

 Bailey, Bull. 67, Cornell Exp. Sta.) In this country, 

 luffas are grown mostly for curiosity and ornament. 

 The fibrous interior of the dried fruit, when bleached 

 and prepared, is used as a sponge for the bath and for 

 scrubbing (whence "vegetable sponge"). The culture is 

 the same as for cucumbers and melons. They are ten- 

 der plants, running 10 to 15 feet. The luffas are widely 

 dispersed in the tropics as cultivated plants. The genus 

 divides itself into two groups, those species (L. 

 cylindrica and L. acutangula) with fruits not spiny or 

 tuberculate, and those with spiny fruits. 



cylindrica, Roem. (Momordica cylindrica, Linn. L. 



aegyptlaca, Mill. L. Petbla, Ser. L. Vdtchii, Naudin. L. 



fdetida, Hort. [at least in part], not Cav. L. Fabiana, L. 



japdnica, L. mexicdna [?] and L. noctiflora alba, Hort.). 



NAGA ITOURI of Japanese. SUA-KWA of Chinese. The 

 commonest dishcloth gourd: sts. 

 slender - running, furrowed, 

 roughened: Ivs. roundish in out- 

 line, mostly 1 5-lobed, coarsely 

 toothed, very scabrous above and 



2215. Luffa acutangula. (Xg) 



beneath: staminate fls. 2-3 in. across, wilting in the sun; 

 ovary cylindrical or clavate, pubescent, destitute of dis- 

 tinct ridges, ripening into a slender cylindrical curved 

 fr. 1-2 ft. long; seeds black or rarely whitish, narrow- 

 winged. A var. macrocdrpa is listed. Probably native 

 to the Old World, but widely distributed in the tropics. 

 A.G. 13:526. 



acutangula, Roxbg. (L. fdetida, Cav.). SING-KWA of 

 Chinese. Fig. 2215. Lvs. rounded, scarcely lobed, very 



122 



2216. Lunaria annua. 



coarsely toothed: ovary 10-ribbed, ripening into a 

 strongly ribbed fr.; seeds black and wingless. Tropics, 

 probably indigenous in Asia. B.M. 1638. Gt. 48, p. 

 136 - L. H. B. 



LUISIA (after Don Luis de Torres, Spanish botanist). 

 Orchidacese. Curious epiphytic orchids, grown indoors. 



Stems with simple or branched erect sts. bearing 

 alternate, elongated, fleshy-terete Ivs.: fls. sessile, on 

 short lateral spikes; 

 sepals and petals 

 sub - similar, conni- 

 vent or half-spread- 

 ing; labellum adnate 

 to the column, some- 

 what concave, with 

 small lateral lobes 

 and a large, spread- 

 ing, entire or bifid 

 middle lobe; column 

 short ; pollinia 2, on a 

 broad, short pedicel. 

 About 20 species 

 in Trop. Asia, the 

 Malay Archipelago, 

 and Japan. These 

 plants are rarely cult. 

 They grow well in 

 any warm or inter- 

 mediate house, re- 

 quiring the treatment given to aerides. A few of the 

 species are listed by orchid specialists, but are not in 

 the general popular trade. 



L. Amesiana, Rolfe. Habit of Vanda terns: fls. rather large, in 

 clusters at sides of st.; sepals and petals pale yellow, brown out- 

 side; lip white, shaded yellow and spotted purple. India. G.C. 

 III. 14:32. L. burmdnica, Lindl.=L. teretifolia. L. platyglossa, 

 Reichb. f.=L. teretifolia. L. Psyche, Reichb. f. Sts. erect: Ivs. 

 about 6 in. long, quill-like: fls. axillary, in 2's; sepals and petals 

 green; lip marked with deep purple. Burma. B.M. 5558. L. 

 teretifdlia, Blume (L. burmanica, Lindl. L. platyglossa, Reichb. f. 

 L. zeylanica, Lindl.). Stout, often producing very many downy 

 roots: fls. small, chocolate-brown, in few-fld. clusters; petals and 

 sepals sometimes whitish; lip convex, oblong. Burma. B.M. 3648 

 (as Cymbidium triste). L H B t 



LUNARIA (luna, Latin for moon; name referring to 

 the silvery white partition of the large pods). Crucif- 

 erae. SATIN FLOWER. MOONWORT. HONESTY. Herba- 

 ceous perennials and annuals, natives of Europe and 

 western Asia, of two species, both of which are cultiva- 

 ted in old gardens. 



Leaves rather large, simple, broad or more or less 

 cordate: fls. purple, in terminal racemes or panicles, 

 rather large and showy: fr. stalked in the calyx, becom- 

 ing a very large flat disk-shaped silicle, with decidu- 

 ous valves and a thin persistent septum; seeds winged, 

 2-4 in each compartment. The plants are of 

 easy cult, under any ordinary garden conditions. 

 They are interesting for their showy fls., but 

 are grown mostly for their great flat pods, which 

 are used in winter bouquets. They are called 

 "honesty" because the seeds can be seen through 

 the pods. Prop, by seeds; or the second species 

 rarely by division. The species sometimes 

 escape from gardens for the seed readily self- 

 sows. 



annua, Linn. (L.biennis, Moench). Fig. 2216. 

 Loose-hairy plant, 1^-2 J^ ft. tall, branching as 

 it matures: Ivs. somewhat cordate or halberd- 

 cordate, coarsely and irregularly toothed, stalked: fls. 

 numerous, pink-purple, fragrant, in May and June: 

 pods about 2 in. long and somewhat narrower, very 

 flat, rounded at the ends, tipped with the persistent 

 style, interesting. Eu. R.H. 1857, p. 30. Frequent in 

 old-fashioned gardens; especially useful in sandy damp 

 places, even in shady spots. There is a recent form with 

 handsomely variegated Ivs. Var. corcyrensis, Hort., 

 has blue fls. Corfu. There is a white variety which is 



