1824 



LASTREA 



LATHYRUS 



the lower piniiu' not rciliui'd; .serins, with iimeroniito 

 teeth. Ku, V;ir. argita is native and wild in Calif., and 

 is often considered ;rilistinet species. 



lepida, Moore. Lf.-blades 1'2 ft- lonj;, tV-7 in. wide, 

 ovate, liipinnatitiil or hipinnate, the lower 4 or S pairs 

 slightly smaller: indvisiy hairy. Of greenhouse oi'igin. 



Other sptH'ii':^ cult. uiuUt tin- naino Livstrt-a, a.s /.. iirisldui aiul L. 

 Richardsii, Iwlong to thf genus I'ol.vsticliuni, whieh see. 



L. M. Undekwood. 



R. C. HENKOlCT.f 



LATANIA (Ea.st hulian name). Palwaa.r. Tall, 

 spinele.<s palms, with .solitary robust annular trimks. 



Leaves ample, terminal, long-pet ioled, .suhorbicular, 

 palmately flabelliforni, jilicately nuiltifitl; segms. 

 smooth or spiny on the margins; rachis short; iietiole 

 ^{-sidetl, concave above; ligule shell-shapetl; sheath 

 short : spadic(>s many feet long, <()nii)ressecl at, the base 

 and branches, sheathed with incomplete sheaths; 

 staminate-fld. branches cylindrical, digitately arranged 

 at the ends of the branches, very densely clothed with 

 imbricated bracts: pistillate portion .somewhat twisted, 

 fcw-Hd., sheatheil with very l)road dentate bracts; 

 staminate fls. in tiny pits and half-exscrted beyond the 

 bracts, the perianth smooth and shining; pi.stillate fls. 

 larger: drupe globose, obovoitl or [)e;u--shaped, yellow. 

 — Three siiecies of fan i)alius from the Mascarene Isls. 

 L. borbonica is one of th(> dozen commonest trade names 

 among palms, but the seetls otTered under this name are 

 said to be almost invariably those of Lirintotia chinensis. 

 Laiania borbonica of the botanists is properly Latmiia 

 Commcrsonii, which has H-seeded frs., while those of 

 Liri.ilona rkiiioish are 1-seeded. Allied genera are dis- 

 criminated under Ili/plurnc. G.C. II. 25:75. 



Latanias are essentially warmhouse palms and require 

 moderate shading through the greater part of the 

 year, and also an abundance of water. A well-drained 

 and rather light compost is most suitable for them, and 

 if the soil at the time of repotting is of the same tem- 

 perature as the house in which the plants are grown, 

 there will be less risk of a ('heck to the delicate root- 

 lets. They should have a night temperature of not less 

 than G0° to 05°. As they grow very freely, it is advan- 

 tageous to plant out if possible. Propagate by imported 

 seeds sown over strong bottom heat. Bone-meal is a 

 good fertilizer for these palms. L. Commersonii is a 

 particularly striking (lalm, the leaf-stems being quite 

 long, smooth, and colored bright crimson, as are also the 

 ribs of its fan-like leaves, this coloring being especially 

 bright on the young foliage. L. Loddigesii is the strong- 

 est grower of the genus, the leafstalks reaching a length 

 of about S feet, usually chocolate-colored and quite 

 glaucous, the leaves thick and leathery and their ribs 

 reddish while yovmg, though never developing such 

 bright tints us those of the preceding species. L. Ver- 

 xchaffettii is al.so very attractive, though possibly a little 

 more deUcate than the other two, its leafstalks being 

 long and rather slender, and orange-yellow in color, the 

 ribs of the leaflets also yellow and the leaves themselves 

 of a light shade of green. (W. H. Taplin.) 



A. Lrx. glaucous. 

 Loddigesii, Mart. (L. t/lauroj)hf/lla, Hort.). About 50 

 ft. in nature, cult, specimens l()-20 ft.: Ivs. 3-5 ft. long, 

 very glaucous, primary veins slightly tomentose 

 beneath, tinge<l with red, especially in yoimg plants; 

 segms. 2 ft. long, less than .3 in. wide, unequally acumi- 

 nate, the edges spiny in young plants; petioles .3-4! i ft- 

 (or more) long, tomentose, entire in the mature, spiny 

 in the young plant: spaflix 3J'2-4 ft. long: drupe pear- 

 ehaped, 3-angled, 2]^ in. long, \% in. thick. Mauritius. 



AA. Lvn. not glaucmiH. 



B. Pduili- dfUHi-ly Inmcrdosi:, vith an (/range margm. 



Verschaffeltii, lycm. (/>. aurca, Duncan). Wild speci- 

 men.s 40 ft.; about half this in cult.: Ivs. pah? green, 

 4}/^.5 ft. long, the .segms. 2]/^ ft. long, above 2 in. wide. 



acuminate, the entire margins and veins slightly 

 toniento.se beneath; petioles 5-8 ft., densely tomentose, 

 with entire, orange margins, spiny in young plants: 

 spadix 4-8 ft. long: drupe slightly li-angletl, 2 in. long, 

 IJ2 in. wide. Isl. Rodriguez. LH. (i:229. G.C. III. 

 31 : 1.52. 



BB. Petiole red, slightly tomentose. 



Commersonii, Gmel. (L. rubra, .lacq. L. horhdnica, 

 Lam., not Hort.). Lvs. 5-53 2 ft. long, dark green above, 

 jxiler beneath; segms. lanceolate, acuminate, 2 ft. long, 

 3J<t~3j2 in. wide, their margins entire, .spiny in young 

 plants, veins and margins tinged with red; petiole 4-6 

 ft., slightly tomentose, the margins smooth, spiny in 

 voung plants: spadi.x 3-6 ft. long: drupe globose, IJ^- 

 1^ in. diam. Mauritius. Not A.F. 4:. 567 and 7:127, 

 A.G. 13:141; 15:389 and 19:557, V. 9:199, G. 2:459, 

 all of which are Lii'istona chinensis. 



L. ert'cta and L. varifgata are trade names. .4ny specimens io 

 cult, will probably be found to be varieties of some of the above. 



N. TAYLOR.t 



LATHRiEA (hidden, Greek, alluding to habitat). 

 Orobanchace:e. Toothwout. Root-jiarasities without 

 green herbage, sometimes sown or encouraged in shrub- 

 beries where their host -plants grow. 



Allied to Orobanche, but the calyx with 4 broad 

 short teeth or lobes rather than with 2 or 4 pointed 

 sepals, ami the fls. not regular: low herbs, brownish, 

 flesh-colored or bluish, bearing many small fls. in scaly 

 racemes or spikes, the sts. usually simple and erect; 

 stamens 4, in 2 j)airs, with 2-celled anthers: caps, 

 l-celled, opening by 2 valves. — Species 5. Eu., Asia, 

 Japan. In N. Amer., the family is represented by Oro- 

 banche (the broom-rape), Conopholis (squaw-root or 

 cancer-root), Epifagus or Leptamnium (beech-drop), 

 Aphyllon or Thalesia, Fig. 231, Vol. 1, by some united 

 with Orobanche, and Boschniakia of the far Northwest. 

 They are scarcely horticultural subjects, although some 

 of the species seem to establish themselves readily when 

 planted where there are proper hosts. 



Two species are more or less recorded in horticultural 

 literature. L. ClandesDna, Linn. (Clandeat'tna rectiflbra, 

 Lam.), Eu., has very many den.sely crowded sts. 4-ti in. 

 high, from densely interlaced rhizomes: fls. pale gray- 

 purple or violet, darker jiurple on the lower lip, 2 in. 

 long and erect in racemes 3-5 in. high. Grows on willow 

 and poplar, and other hosts. G.C. III. 35:292, 293, 

 showing a group established on roots of beech and 

 willow. G. 36:242. A showy species. L. Sgt/amaria, 

 Linn. (Sguamaria Orobanche, Scop.), Great Britain 

 to Russian Asia: i)ale rose-color, with flesh-colored or 

 faintly bluish fls. which are streaked with purple or 

 dark red: rootstock scaly, fleshy, creeping: fls. many, 

 nodding, short-stalked or in a dense spike. On roots of 

 hazel. L. H. B. 



LATHYRUS (name used by Theophrastus for some 

 leguminous ])lant). Legumiiibsa-. Annual and perennial, 

 climbing and uptight herbs and shrubby i)lants with 

 pinnate leaves, half-sagittate stipules and showy 

 papilionaceous flowers. 



Stems flat or winged, in some species: lvs. equally 

 pinnate, ending in a tendril or in a point; Ifts. 2 or 

 several; stipules leafy, large and prominent, half-sagit- 

 tate: fls. solitai-y or racemose, on long axillary peduncles; 

 calyx oblique-campanulate, .5-parted, the upper teeth 

 often shorter; corf)lla dark blue, violet, rose, white or 

 yellow, i>r ;i imion of these, the standard large, broadly 

 obovate or roundi.sh, notched, with a short claw, the 

 wings falcafe-obovate or oblong, the keel shorter than 

 th(? wings, incurved, obtuse; stamens diadelphous 

 (9 and 1) or monadelplious below; ovary l-celled, 

 the pod several-seeded; style curved, usually twisted, 

 flattt^ned, hairy tdong the inner side: pod flat or terete, 

 2-valved, dehiscent. — A genus according to the Index 

 Kewensis, of more; than 200 specit^s, ociHirring in the 

 northern hemispliere, Amer., Eu., .\sia, and in Afr. and 



