LOOSESTRIFE. 



LUCERN. 



LOOSESTRIFE (Lysimachia, from lusis, dis- 

 solution, and mache, strife). A very pretty ge- 

 nus of plants, with mostly yellow flowers. All 

 the species are of the easiest culture, and may 

 be propagated by divisions, except L. dubia 

 and L. Linum-stellatum, which must be in- 

 creased by seeds. 



Great yellow loosestrife (L. vulgaris), grows 

 in watery, shady places, particularly the reedy 

 margins of rivers. The root is creeping; stems 

 3 or 4 feet high. 



Wood leosestrife, or yellow pimpernel (L. 

 nemorum). This species, which is one of the 

 elegant though not uncommon English plants, 

 inhabits woods and shady, rather watery places. 

 The stems are creeping at the base, decum- 

 bent, often pendant from banks and rocks. 



Creeping loosestrife. Money-wort or herb 

 twopence (L. numwm/aria). This is a hand- 

 some free-flowering plant, which, from its trail- 

 ing habit, is well fitted for decorating rock- 

 work. It grows wild in wet meadows, boggy 

 pastures, and the borders of rivulets. The 

 herbage is smooth, of a pale green; stems 

 quite prostrate, creeping, a foot or two in length ; 

 leaves somewhat heart-shaped; flowers soli- 

 tary, pale lemon-coloured, rather larger than 

 the last species; stamens glandular. It flowers 

 from June to August, and affords a wholesome 

 food for cattle, especially sheep. On account 

 of its stfb-acid and mildly astringent proper- 

 ties, it is considered as one of the most effica- 

 cious vulnerary herbs. Bechstein asserts that 

 the leaves and flowers of this plant, steeped in 

 oil, furnish an excellent remedy for destroying 

 the worms and insects infesting the floors of 

 granaries. 



LOPPED MILK. Provincially, milk that 

 has stood till it has become sour and curdled. 



LOPPING. The operation of cutting off the 

 lateral or other branches of trees. See PRUN- 

 ING and PLANTATIONS. 



LOTUS. See BIRDS'-FOOT TREFOIL 



LOUSINESS. In farriery, an affection of 

 the skin, arising, in cattle or other animals, 

 from the irritation of lice or other animalculae, 

 which may be distinguished by the naked eye. 

 Most animals, and even insects, are subject to 

 this annoyance. Lousiness in live-stock is 

 produced by neglect and low keep. The best 

 remedy is more attention to cleanliness, with 

 better food. The lice may be killed by a dress- 

 ing applied with a brush to the chief affected 

 parts, composed of four ounces of black sul- 

 phur, mixed with a pint of train oil, or a small 

 portion of weak mercurial ointment. 



LOUSE-WORT. See RATTLE. 



LOVAGE (Ligusticum, so named because 

 some of the species grow in Liguria). A ge- 

 nus of hardy, herbaceous, and biennial, aro- 

 matic plants, which, as flowers, are not worth 

 cultivating. They will grow in any soil, and 

 are increased by seeds. 



The Scottish lovage or sea parsley (Z. Scoti- 

 com), grows on rocks, cliffs, and the sea-coasts 

 of Scotland and the north of England, on a 

 stem a foot high ; root tap-shaped, wi:rm and 

 pungent ; leaves stalked, twice ternate ; foot- 

 stalks bordered with a purplish compressed 

 membrane at the base; umbels smooth, not 

 verv large, bearing white flowers, with a red- 

 93 



dish tinge : these appear in July. This herb is 

 eaten by the natives of Scotland and its isles, 

 either crude as a salad, or boiled as greens. The 

 flavour is highly acrid, and, though aromatic, 

 stomachic, and perhaps not unwholesome, yet 

 very nauseous to those who are unaccustomed 

 to such food. It is relished by horses, sheep, 

 and goats, but refused by cows. The stem 

 yields English opoponax. The roots are re- 

 puted to be carminative, and an infusion of 

 the leaves affords a good physic for calves. 



Cornish lovage (L. cornubiense). This is a 

 less common species, found sometimes in 

 bushy fields in Cornwall. The root is spindle- 

 shaped, contracted at the crown, descending 

 to a great depth ; when wounded, discharging 

 a yellow, resinous juice. The stem is two or 

 three feet high, solitary, erect, branched, stri- 

 ated, purple at the base. Leaves deep green ; 

 the radicles once, twice, or thrice pinnate, 

 rough-edged, cut ; stem-leaves ternate, lanceo- 

 late, entire. Ribs of the seeds bluntish. 



LOVE-APPLE. See TOMATO. 



LOVE-GRASS (Eragrostis, from eros, love, 

 and agrottis, grass ; in allusion to the beautiful 

 dancing spikelets, whence also the English 

 name). It is a pretty species of foreign grass, 

 growing in gardens about a foot high in any 

 common soil. 



LOVE-LIES-BLEEDING. The common 

 name of a species of amaranth (jl. caudatus). 



LOY. A very long, narrow spade, peculiar 

 to the province of Connaught and some parts 

 of Munster, and only suited to stony land, 

 where a wider edge could not so easily pene- 

 trate. (M. Doyle's Pract. Husb.) 



LUCAMA. A species of fruit growing in 

 Chili, in size and flavour resembling a peach. 

 (Ed. Enryr.) 



LUCERN, or PURPLE MEDICK GRASS 

 (Medicago saliva, PI. 8, A). An artificial grass, 

 called by the French grand trefle, which affords 

 perhaps a larger produce of fodder than any 

 other species of artificial grass. Although 

 found growing wild in hedges, pastures, and 

 the borders of fields in dry, calcareous soils, 

 yet it can scarcely be considered a native of 

 England. The stems are erect or somewhat 

 reclining, about two feet high. Leaflets oblong, 

 inclining to wedge-shaped; more or less acute, 

 sharply serrated towards the end, clothed with 

 close, silky hairs on both sides. The flowers 

 are in clusters, many, bluish purple, with a 

 small bristle-like bracte under each partial 

 stalk. The legumes are spiral, with rarely 

 more than two or three turns ; they are silky 

 when young. 



This valuable grass is best cultivated on a 

 good, dry, warm, barley soil ; it is not adapted 

 for heavy or wet soils. Being a deep-rooted 

 plant, it requires a soil in which its roots can 

 penetrate to a considerable depth. It should 

 be sown on land perfectly clean, in the months 

 of March or April, with (or best without) a 

 crop of grain. It is only adapted to the south- 

 ern parts of England, since extreme cold de- 

 stroys it. It is best sown alone in drills, at a 

 distance of 12 to 15 inches; the quantity of 

 seed is from 10 to 16 Ibs. per acre. Any va- 

 cancies in the drills may in the autumn or fol- 

 lowing spring be made good by transplanting. 

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