LABURNUM 



partly shaded positions as in sunny ones. Prop, by 

 seeds, sown usually in spring, and also by layers ; 

 the vars. are mostly grafted or budded on seedlings of 

 one of the species. Three species in S. Europe and W. 

 Asia, often included under Cytisus. Lvs. exstipulate; 

 fls. slender-pedicelled, in terminal simple racemes, 

 mostly pendulous ; calyx 2-lipped, with obtuse, short 

 lips; corolla papilionaceous, with the petals all distinct: 

 ovary stalked : fr. a linear pod with several seeds, com- 

 pressed, tardily dehiscent; seed without appendage at 

 the base. All parts of the plants are poisonous, espe- 

 cially the young fruits. The hard, tough and close- 

 grained wood is susceptible of a very fine polish, and is 

 manufactured into various small articles. Consult C,i/- 

 fis^ls, Genista and Petteria for names not found in this 

 genus. 



vulgare, Griseb. (i. anagyroides, Medic. Cytisus 

 Laburmim, hinn.). Golden Chain. Bean Tree. Pig. 

 1219. Large shrub or small tree, to 20 ft., with erect or 

 spreading branches : branchlets appressed-pubescent, 

 grayish green: Ivs. long-petioled; Ifts. elliptic or ellip- 

 tic-ovate, usually obtuse and mucronulate, glaucous- 

 green and appressed-silky pubescent beneath when 

 young, 1-1% in. long : racemes silky-pubescent, 4-8 in. 

 long: fls. about % in. long: pod appressed-pubescent, 

 with thick peel, about 2 in. long ; seeds black. May, 

 June. S.Europe. Gn. 25, p. 518 ; 34, p. 30, and 51, p. 

 302. — There are many garden forms, as var. aitreum, 

 Hort., with yellow foliage, F.S. 21:2242-13; var. bul- 

 litum, C. Koch (var. involutum, Hort.), with curled 



LACUNA 



86& 



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vulgare (XK)- 



Ifts. ; var. Carlidri, C. Koch, with very small and narrow 

 Ifts. and long and slender racemes; var. pfindulum, C. 

 Koch, with pendulous branches, Gn. 25, p. 522 ; var. 

 querciidlium. C. Koch, with sinuately lobedlfts., Gn. 25, 

 p. 520 and 34, p. 30; var. sessilifdlium, C. Koch, with 

 crowded, sessile Ivs. 



alpinum, Griseb. (Ct'itlsus alplnus. Mill.). Scotch 

 Laburnum. Shrub or tree, to 30 ft., similar to the for- 

 mer: branchlets glabrous or hirsute when young: Ifts. 

 usually elliptic, acute, pale green and glabrous beneath 

 or sparingly hirsute, ciliate, 1-154 in. long : racemes 

 long and slender, glabrous or sparingly hirsute: fls. 

 smaller: pod thin, with the upper suture winged, gla- 

 brous; seed brown. June. Mts., S. Europe. B.M. 17& 

 (as Cytisus Laburnum). Gn. 25, p. 519 and 34, p. 30.- 

 This species flowers about two weeks later than the for- 

 mer, and has much longer and more slender racemes; it 

 also is of more upright and stiffer growth and hardier. 



Witereri, Dipp. (L. Pdrksii, Hort. C. alphuisxvul- 

 giris, Wittst.). Hybrid of garden origin, but found 

 also wild. Lvs. beneath and racemes sparingly pubes- 

 cent: racemes long and slender: pod with narrow wing, 

 sparingly appressed-pubescent. — As hardy as i. alpi- 

 num and sometimes considered to be a variety of that 

 species. 



Adami, Kirchn. {C. Adami,Poit. C. Laburnum pur- 

 purdscens, Loud. L. vulgdrexCytisus purpiiretts). 

 Probably graft-hybrid, originated at Vitry, near Paris, 

 about 1826. Habit and foliage usually almost like L. 

 vulgare, but fls. dull purplish, rarely yellow; sometimes 

 bearing a few branches with the fls. and lvs. of Cytisus 

 purpurens. A very interesting form, but of less orna- 

 mental value. B.R. 23:1965. B.H. 21:16-18. -Much dis- 

 cussed by Darwin and others as an example of graft- 

 hybridism. 



L. Caramdnicum, Benth. & Hook. (Podocytisus Caramani- 

 cus, Boiss.). Erect slirub. to 4 ft., much resembling in foliag» 

 and habit the Cytisus sessilifolius. with long and slender ter- 

 minal upright racemes. Jxily-8ept, Asia Minor. R.H. 1861, 

 p. 4in.— Z/. frdgrans, Griseb.. L. ramentdceum, C. Koch, and 

 JD. Weldfni, LavalI.=Petteria ramentacea. 



Alfred Rehder. 



LABYRINTHS or mazes are still kept up in some Old 

 World gardens as relics of the past. They were popu- 

 lar in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Fig. 

 1220 is the plan of an English Labyrinth of two centu- 

 ries ago. It would be vandalism to destroy so fine an 

 example of a style of gardening no longer fashionable, 

 but folly to copy it in a modern garden. Mazes are 

 made of clipped evergreens of various kinds. 



LAC2:NA (one of the names of Helen, which Lmdley 

 states may be applied to this plant on account of its 

 beauty, a compliment which the plant does not at all 

 merit; but he adds it may also be derived from Lakis,a. 

 cleft, alluding to the divisions of the lip, but this deri- 

 vation is impossible). On-hiddcew. A little-known ge- 

 nus containing only 2 species inhabiting Central Amer. 

 Pseudobulbs rather long, ovoid, smooth at first: lvs. 

 large, elliptic-pointed and contracted into a petiole, pli- 

 cate venose: raceme pendent from the base of the pseu- 

 dobulbs, loose, bearing up to 10 medium-sized fls.: 

 sepals and petals nearly equal, elliptical, half-spread- 

 ing; labellum equaling the petals, articulated to the base 

 of the column, clawed, with the lateral lobes incurved, 

 terminal larger, spreading and narrowed at the base to 

 abroad claw: column rather long,winged, hooded at the 

 top; pollinia 2 on a simple .stipe. 



The plants should be grown in baskets or on blocks 

 of wood like Stanhopeas: if potted the racemes are likely 

 to bury themselves in the soil. At the end of October 

 water should be almost entirely withheld for a few 

 weeks. The flower-stalks appear in spring. 



bicolor, Lindl. Racemes drooping, about 18 in. long, 

 bearing 9 or 10 fls. The fls. are greenish yellow, covered 

 externally with short hairs ; petals with 3 purple streaks ; 

 labellum hairy, spotted with purple. Discovered about 

 1843 in Guatemala, at an elevation of 7,000 ft. B.R. 30:50. 

 — Var. glabrata, Lem. Fls. evervwhere nearly glabrous, 

 creamy white. Not in the American trade. I. H. 1:33. 



spectAbilis, Reichb. f. Fls. about 1 in. in diam., whit- 

 ish, suffused with pink and speckled with purple; 

 sepals concave orbicular ; petals smaller connivent. 

 B.M. 6516.-Far more handsome than the former, but 

 not advertised in America. 



Heinbich Hasselbring. 



