LEDUM. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



LEONURUS. 



627 



Z.. abrotanoidcs (Canaries) ; atrifilicifolia. (Egypt) ; 

 burtnanni (E. Indies); caricnsis (Asia Minor); coro- 



nipifolia (Egypt) ; dent at a. (Orient regions) ; Gibsoni 

 (E. Indies) ; lanata (Spain) ; minutolii (Canaries) ; 



inultifida (S. Europe); m'mmoi (Socotra) ; peduncn- 



lata (Spain) ; pinnata (Canaries) ; pubescens (Arabia) ; 



rotundifolia. (Cape Verde) ; set if era (Arabia) ; spica 

 t( Mediterranean regions) ; stcechas (Ditto) ; subnuda 

 '(Arabia) ; Tennisecta (Morocco) vera (S. Europe) ; 



viridis (Portugal). 



LEDUM (Labrador Tea}. Dwarf hardy 

 shrubs, of which the best of the few species 

 grown in gardens is L. latifolium, which 

 represents the genus well. Its usual height 

 is under 2 ft., but sometimes it reaches 3 ft. ; 

 it is dense and compact, and has small 

 leaves, of a rusty brown beneath. During 

 the latter part of May it bears clusters of 

 white flowers. It is a very old garden 

 .plant, and was brought from North 

 America more than a century ago. The 

 Canadian form of it (canadense) is found 



Ledum. 



in some gardens, but does not differ 

 materially from the type. A form called 

 globosum is finer, as the flower-clusters 

 are larger and more globular. L. palustre 

 is commoner than L. latifolium, but being 

 smaller in every part is not so good ; it is 

 dwarf and spreading, and its flowers are 

 white. The Ledums thrive best in a 

 peaty soil or sandy loam, and are usually 

 included in a collection of so-called 

 American plants. They are charming 

 grouped in the bog-garden, fully ex- 

 posed if possible. North Europe and 

 America. 



LEIOPHYLLUM (Sand Myrtle). L. 

 buxifolium is a neat, pretty, and tiny shrub, 

 forming compact bushes 4 to 6 in. high, 

 with evergreen leaves resembling those of 

 the Box. The small white flowers are 

 borne in dense clusters in early summer, 

 the unopened buds being of a delicate 

 pink hue, and it is suited for grouping 

 with diminutive shrubs, such as the 

 Partridge Berry, Daphne Cneorum, the 

 small Andromedas, and with Willows like 

 S. reticulata and serpyllifolia, that rise 

 little above the ground. It is generally 

 planted on the margins of peat beds with 

 other American peat-loving shrubs, and it 

 is also a good plant for the rock-garden. 

 A native of sandy " pine barrens " in New 



Jersey. There is more than one variety 

 in cultivation. 



LEONTOPODIUM (Edelweiss}. A 

 pretty and hoary-leaved alpine plant, L. 

 alpinuin having small yellow flowers sur- 

 rounded by star-like heads of leaves clothed 

 with a dense white woolly substance. 

 Some people are so pleased at seeing this 

 plant in cultivation that they send letters to 

 the Times to announce the fact ; but its cul- 

 ture is not difficult on sandy soils, or even 

 as a border-plant, and it grows too luxuri- 

 antly in moist rich soils. To keep a good 

 stock of flowering plants, the old ones 

 should be divided annually or young ones 

 raised from seeds, which in some seasons 

 ripen plentifully. It succeeds either on 

 exposed spots of the rock-garden or in an 



Leontopodium alpinum (Edelweiss). 



ordinary border, if not placed too near 

 rank-growing things, Syn. Gnaphalium 

 alpinum. Composite. 



LEONURUS (Liorfs-tail}.L. Leonitis 

 is a distinct and handsome plant of the 

 Salvia Order, allied to Phlomis, about 2 ft. 

 high, and bearing in summer whorls of 

 very showy bright scarlet flowers. It is a 

 Cape plant, and is not hardy enough for 

 our climate during the winter, even when 

 protected by a cold frame, though in warm 

 light soils, in the southern parts of the 

 country, it thrives out-of-doors in summer, 

 and where it will not bloom out-of-doors, 

 it is worthy of a place as a cool green- 

 house plant. Near Paris, established 

 plants placed out for the summer flower 

 well. Wherever it can be grown in the 

 S S 2 



