LOPHANTHUS 



I LOPHANTHUS (Greek, crested flower; application 



||Dt evident). Labiatce. Of this genus we cultivate 2 



tpecies of hardy herbaceous perennials, which are rather 



Lll and coarse and bear spikes of more or less purplish 



?. in summer. The genus contains 7 species, all from 



merica or N. E. Asia. Lvs. serrate, veiny, petioled, 



wer usually subcordate and upper ovate: fls. small, in 



>. ense sessile whorls crowded into terminal spikes, 



ii hich may be interrupted below; stamens exserted; 



: ithers separated or distant, not approximate in pairs, 



Meir cells parallel or nearly so. Of minor value. 



anisatus, Benth. GIANT HYSSOP. Height 2-3 ft. : Ivs. 

 i \rate, anise-scented when crushed, white beneath: fls. 

 lue; calyx teeth tinged purple or violet. July, Aug. 

 / rairies, Wis. to Rockies. B.R. 15:1282. This species 

 $ rows 3-5 ft. high, on dry hills, and has pale purple 

 fowers. 



scrophulariaefdlius, Benth. Height 4-6 ft.: Ivs. not 

 nise-scented, not white beneath : fls. dull purplish; 

 alyx teeth whitish. Borders of thickets, N. Y. to Wis. 

 nd N. C. This plant grows 2 ft. high and has laven- 

 er-blue flowers in June. 



LOPHOSPERMUM. See Maurandia. 

 LORDS AND LADIES. Arum maculatum. 

 LOQUAT. See Eriobotrya Japonica. 



LOTUS meant several things to the ancients: (1) 

 he Greek Lotus, a leguminous plant on which horses 



ed. This was probably what we call to-day Lotus cor- 

 liculatus, the common Bird's-foot Trefoil of temperate 

 'egions. (2) the Cyrenean Lotus, an African shrub, the 



ruit of which was eaten by certain North African tribes 

 vho were called Lotus eaters. The fruit was said to be 

 loney-sweet, the size of an olive and in taste like a date. 

 This was probably Zizyphus Lotus, a prickly shrub 

 Vhose fruit is, however, considered inferior to that of 

 'he common jujube, Zizyphus sativa. Other conjectures 

 lave been: Celtis australis, a tree which has a small, 

 iweet berry; Nitraria tridentata, a thorny desert shrub 

 |vhose succulent fruit has a stimulating quality, and 

 'Rhamwus Lotus, another North African plant. Euro- 

 pean Lotus is a name for Diospyros Lotos, a kind of 

 late plum which is cult, in S. Eu., but the fruit is hardly 

 idible. (3) The Egyptian Lotus or Sacred Lily of the Nile. 

 This is Nymphcea Lotus, which, like the Hindu Lotus, 

 las rose-colored as well as white flowers. American 

 cultivators at the present time almost universally con- 

 dder that the true Egyptian Lotus is Nelumbium spe- 

 iosum, now called Nelumbo, but Nelumbium speciosum 

 s not a native of Egypt. (4) The Hindu and Chinese 

 uotus, also called the Sacred or Pythagorean Bean. This 

 s Nelumbo Indica, better known as Nelumbium speci- 

 isum. The name Lotus was doubtless used for other 

 vater lilies, particularly the blue-flowered Nymphcea 

 xxrulea. These plants are described in this work. See 

 Nelumbo and Nymphcea. 



Lotus of the botanists is a genus of 50-100 species, 

 found in temperate regions: herbs or subshrubs, gla- 

 brous, silky or hirsute: Ivs. with 3 Ifts. crowded at the 

 ipex of the petiole and commonly 2 joined to the stem 

 ind resembling stipules: fls. pea-shaped, yellow, red, 

 rosy or white, often in axillary, few-fld. umbels, rarely 

 solitary; calyx lobes longer than the tube; keel beaked: 

 pod oblong or linear. Leguminosae. 



A. Lvs. threadlike: fls. odd, not pea-shaped. 



Bertholetii, Masf. (L. peliorhyncus, Hook. L.pelyor- 

 9is, Hort. ). Small, much-branched, slender bush, with 

 silvery hue: Ifts. whorled, 8-9 lines long: fls. 1% in. 

 ng, in loose clusters of about 20 toward the end of the 



Branches, short-pedicelled, scarlet or crimson fading to 



grange; standard recurved like a horn; keel acuminate, 



>nger than the wings. Cape Verde, Canaries. B.M. 



R.H. 1895: 308. -Peliorhyncus means bruised or 



iscolored nose. Called "Coral Gem" in catalogues. 



arown chiefly in hanging baskets. Prop, by division or 



cuttings. 



LOUISIANA 



945 



AA. Lvs. not thread-like : fls. pea-shaped. 

 B. Fls. yellow. 



corniculatus, Linn. BIRD'S-FOOT TREFOIL. BABIES' 

 SLIPPERS. Perennial, prostrate or ascending, a few in. 

 to 2 ft. high, glabrous or hairy: Ifts. obovate or ovate 

 % in. long, the 2 stipular ones broader and very oblique: 

 fls. yellow, often tinged bright red, 5-10 in an umbel* 

 calyx lobes about as long as the tube. Temp, regions 

 and Australia. Var. fldre-pleno has showy double fls 

 A hardy trailer for covering dry banks and rockwork, 

 blooming all summer and autumn. Also grown for 

 forage. 



BB. Fls. pink or white. 



australis, Andr. Perennial, diffuse, sometimes sub- 

 shrubby, glabrous or pubescent: Ifts. narrower than in 

 L. corniculatus, and the stipular ones less dissimilar, 

 but varying from obovate and under % in. long, to 

 linear and 1-1% in. long: fls. usually pink, but varying 

 from white to purple-red. Australia. B.M. 1365. 

 L.B.C. 11:1063 and B. 5:211 (as L. albidus).-lnt. 1900 

 by Pranceschi. 



BBB. Fls. dark purple or dark red. 



c. Lfts. linear-lanceolate. 



Jacobaeus, Linn. Perennial, subshrubby: fls. about 3 

 in a flat-topped cluster, dark purple, almost black. 

 Cape Verde. B.M. 79. Treated as a tender annual 

 bedding plant. 



cc. Lfts. obovate to elliptic. 



Tetragon61obus, Linn. WINGED PEA. Annual trailer: 

 fls. solitary or twin, purplish cardinal-red. Mediterra- 

 nean region. B.M. 151.-Tetragonolobus was once con- 

 sidered a separate genus, largely because of the 4 leafy 

 wings of the pod. Grown chiefly for food, the pods 

 being eaten when young and the seeds, when roasted, 

 substituted for coffee. Seeds sown in drills in April. 

 Plants require no care except water during drought. 



L. Balambensis, a pink-fld. Abyssinian plant, was int. to 

 American trade by Franeeschi, who says it was originally sent 

 out by Dammann & Co., Naples, Italy, and is not worth cult. 

 L. Canariensis floribundus is not in Index Kewensis. Franees- 

 chi writes that it has yellow fls. and is desirable for rockeries 

 and hanging baskets ; that it is not far from L. corniculatus, 

 but has a different habit; and that it was offered many years 

 ago by Wildpret of Orotana and later by Albert Scheubel of 

 Hamburg. -^ ^ 



LOUISIANA (Fig. 1320) is situated at the extreme 

 lower limit of the great Mississippi system, bordering 1 

 on the Gulf of Mexico. These bodies of water have an 

 important bearing upon the climate, and make it pos- 

 sible to grow some of the subtropical fruits. The pre- 

 vailing wind is from the south, somewhat cool and always 

 laden with moisture, and the southern portion of the 

 state, being only about 30 feet above the sea level, re- 

 ceives the heaviest rainfall, 70 inches, while the northern 

 portion, being more elevated and further from the gulf, 

 has an annual rainfall of 45 to 50 inches. This is, as a, 

 rule, well distributed throughout the state, the seasons 

 of greatest drought being early spring and early autumn. 

 The highest recorded summer temperatures run from 

 98 along the Gulf coast, to 102 in the northern part of 

 the state, while the average winter temperature is 56. 

 Occasionally a northwestern blizzard reaches down 

 into the state, causing a heavy fall in temperature, ac- 

 companied with sleet, and once in a great while, snow. 

 There was a temperature of 9 in 1895, and 13 inches of 

 snow. A minimum of 15 below zero was subsequently 

 recorded in northern Louisiana. These occasional bliz- 

 zards have forced the culture of tropical fruits down to 

 the section immediately bordering on the Gulf. As the 

 soil has such an important bearing on the character of 

 the fruit, a rough classification of the different kinds 

 is here given. 



First: The Sandy Hills and Uplands. These occupy 

 the northwestern portion of the state, along with a sec- 

 tion in the eastern part, south of the state of Mississippi. 

 The lands are characterized by sandy soils, with pine 

 and oak forests, and produce the best apples, stone- 

 fruits and berries. 



Second: The Bluff Lands. These occupy a broken 

 strip, running parallel with the Mississippi, from 30 to 



