VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 23I 



(Hsieh-p'o-ts'ai) and ^ ^^ llj (Pan-pien-shan). The root is 

 used ill medicine for the treatment of fevers and sore throat. 



LACTUCA STOLONIFERA.— ^ ^ jg (Hu-hnang-lien), 

 482. This is a classification suggested by Faber. (See Bark- 

 haiisia repens). 



LAGENARIA VULGARIvS.— ^ M, (Hu-lu). These char- 

 acters are sometimes written with the grass radical, ^ ^. 

 Other names in the classics are ^ (Hn), |^ (P'ao), and fU 

 (P'iao). These names all refer to the shape of the gourd and 

 the uses to which it is put, and the Chinese authors try to 

 distinguish different varieties by these names. In the north 

 #E ■? (Hu-tzu) is applied to a long, club-shaped gourd. It is the 

 pear-shaped, or double-bellied, bottle-shaped gourd to which 

 the name HiL-hi is most properly applied. The young leaves 

 of this plant are sometimes eaten. The gourds are used for 

 a variety of purposes, as formerly in America, such as cala- 

 bashes, dishes, beggars' collection boxes, musical instruments, 

 drug bottles, floats, and the like. The pulp of the fresh fruit 

 is sometimes eaten like the squash, but if taken too freely is 

 liable to cause vomiting and purging. It is considered to be 

 cooling, diuretic, and antilithic. The prickly cortex of the 

 vine and the flowers are regarded as counter poisons, while the 

 seeds are taken together with AchryantJies bidentata for diseased 

 and aching teeth and gum boils. 



LAMINARIA.— ft (Lun). See Alg^. 



LAMPSANA APOGONOIDES.— ^ JfR % (Huang-kua- 

 ts'ai), ^ ^ ^ (Huang-hua-ts'ai). This grows wild in moist 

 fields, resembles wild mustard, has a slightly bitter taste, and is 

 used as a pot-herb. It bears a yellow flower and small seeds like 

 rape seeds. The rural people sometimes eat these seeds as a sub- 

 stitute for rice. The use of this plant and of its seed is regard- 

 ed as beneficial in all cases of feverishness and lack of vitality. 



LATHYRUS DAVIDIL— ^ •£■ J^ Pj^ (Chiang-mang- 

 chiieh-ming). This is a Japanese identification. (See Cassia 

 tnimosoides). 



