LOPHANTHUS 



LOPHANTHUS (Greek, crested flower; application 

 not evident). Lnbi&ta. Of tiiis geuus we cultivate 2 

 species of hardy herbaceous perennials, which aro ratlmr 

 tall and coarse and bear spikes of mori' "i- Ic^-^ ].nr|.li~li 



fig. in summer. The genus contains 7 s| i.'^. all Iimiii 



America or N. E. Asia. Lvs. serratr, viiny. iiriiMlnl, 

 lower usually subcordate and upper ovate; 11:^. small, in 

 dense sessile whorls crowded into terminal spikes, 

 which may be interrupted below; stamens exserted; 

 anthers separated or distant, not approximate in pairs, 

 their cells parallel or nearly so. Of minor value. 



anisitus, Benth. Giant Hrssop. Height 2-3 ft. : lvs. 

 ovate, anise-scented when crushed, white beneath: fls. 

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

 Prairies, Wis. to Rockies. B.R. 15:1282. -This species 

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

 flowers. 



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

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

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

 and N. 0.— This plant grows 2 ft. high and has laven- 

 der-blue flowers in June. 



LOUISIANA 



945 



LOPHOSPfiEMUM. 



Mau 



n<lia. 



LORDS AND LADIES. Arum maculafiim. 

 LOaUAT. See Eviohotrya Japotiica. 



LdTTTS meant several things to the ancients: (1) 

 the Greek Lotus, a leguminous plant on which horses 

 fed. This was probably what we call to-day Loins cor- 

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

 regions. (2| the Cyrenean Lotus, an African shrub, the 

 fruit of which was eaten by certain North African tribes 

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

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

 This was probably Zisyphiis Lotus, a prickly shrub 

 whose fruit is, however, considered inferior to that of 

 the common juiuljc, Zicni'liu.^ .•<.ilir,i. I itli, r cinjctures 

 have been: Celtis uust r^i h.^. a ir... wlii.h lia^ ,i ^mall, 

 sweet berry; Nllrari:/ //■/,/,/,/./'.(. a tlhirnv . I. sen ^hrub 

 whose succulent fruit lias a stilnulaliiii; i|iialily, and 

 Bhamnns Lotus, another North African i>laijl. Euro- 

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

 date plnni which is cult, in S. Eu., but the fruit is hardly 

 edible. ( 3 ) The Ewptian Lotus or Sacred Lily of the Nile. 

 This is Sijuiphd'U £o(ms, which, like the Hindu Lotus, 

 has rose-colored as well as white flowers. American 

 cultiv.ators at the present time almost universally con- 

 sider that the true Egyptian Lotus is Nelumbium spe- 

 ciosum, now called Nelumbo. but JV^elumbium speciosum 

 is not a native of Egypt. I4i The Hindu and Chinese 

 Lotus, also called the Sacred "1- l'vtliat:"r.an Bean. This 

 is JVeiumfto /ndica, better ku'iwn as .V, hi milium speci- 

 osum. The name Lotus was iloulitless used for other 

 water lilies, particularly tlie blue-flowered iVymphcea 

 ccerulea. These plants are described in this work. See 

 Nelumbo and Nymplma. 



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

 found in temperate regions: herbs or subshrubs, gla- 

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

 apex of the petiole and commonly 2 joined to the stem 

 and 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. Leguminosse. 



A. Lvs. thread-like: fls. odd, not pea-shaped. 



Bertholetii, Masf. (Z/. peZioWi.i/HcHS, Hook. L.pelyor- 

 ensis, Hort. }. Small, much-branched, slender bush, with 

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

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

 branches, short-pedicelled. scarlet or crimson fading to 

 orange; standard recurved like a horn ; keel acuminate, 

 longer than the wings. Cape Verde, Canaries. B.M. 

 6733. R.H. 1895: 308. -Peliorhyncus means bruised or 

 discolored nose. Called "Coral Gem" in catalogues. 

 Grown chiefly in hanging baskets. Prop, by division or 

 cuttings. 



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

 B. Fls. yellow. 

 corniculatus, Linn. Bird's-poot Trefoil. Babies' 

 Si,ii-ii:ks. I'cri iinial, prostrate or ascending, a few in. 

 t.._' ft. hi-h. ^'hil.r..us or hairy: Ifts. obovate or ovate, 

 '... in. lunt;, the J stipnlar 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. ildre-pl^no has showy double fls.— 

 A hardy trailer for covering dry banks and rockwork, 

 blooming all summer and autumn. Also grown for 

 forage. 



EB. 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 l-l>^in. long: fls. usually pink, but varying 

 from white to purple-red. Australia. B.M. 1305. 

 L.B.C. 11:1063 and B. 5:211 (as L. atbidus). -lu\. 1900 

 by Franceschi. 



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. 

 TetragonSlobus, 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-fid. Abyssinian plant, was int. to 

 L trade by Fr.inceschi, who says it was originally sent 

 ' Dammann ..t (.'<•, Naples, Italy, and is not worth cult.— 

 Ins is lint in Index Kewensis. Frances- 

 chi writes that it li.is y.llnw 11^ and is desirable for rockeries 

 and hanging liask<-ts, tliat il is not far from L. eornictd.atus, 

 iiiii that it was offered many ye,ars 

 a and later by Albert Scheubel of 

 W.M. 



L. Canariensit 



differeii 

 :o by Whdpret < 

 amburg. 



LOUISIANA (Fig. 1320) is situated at the extreme 

 lower limit of the great Mississippi system, bordering 

 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 :!n feet above the sea level, re- 

 ceives the heaviest rainfall, To inches, while the northern 

 portion, being more elevaliil and further from the gulf, 

 has an annual rainfall of 13 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: llie Sandy Bills 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 



■t 



