236 



HENDERSON'S HANDBOOK OF PLANTS 



LYC 



making " Christmas greens," and in bouquet 

 work by the florists. It is very common in 

 swampy places, particularly in New England. 

 The spores of the common Club Moss, L. 

 clavatum, ai'e very inflammable, and are used 

 on the stage to produce artificial lightning. 

 Many species formerly placed under this 

 genus are now removed to Selaginella, which 

 see. 



Lyco'psis. A genus of Boraginacece, differing 

 very slightly from Anchusa, with which genus 

 it is now united by many botanists. 



Lyco'ris. The name of a woman in Roman 

 history. Nat. Ord. Amaryllidacece. 



A small genus of hardy bulbs from China, 

 producing an umbel of several showy flowers 

 on a slender scape from twelve to eighteen 

 inches high, the color being yellow or light 

 straw, and pink. They are allied to the 

 Vallota, and require the same treatment. 

 Introduced in 1758. 



Lygodi'ctyon. From Lygodium and dictyon, a 

 net ; its net-like veins distinguishing it from 

 Lygodium. Nat. Ord. PolypodiacecB. 



L. Forsleri, a climbing Fern, common in the 

 South Sea Islands, constitutes this genus. It 

 is almost identical with the genus Lygodium, 

 and is also known as Hydroglossum. Syn. 

 Lygodium reticulatum. 



Lygo'dium. Climbing Fern. Japan Fern. 

 From lygodes, flexible; in allusion to the 

 twining' habit of the plants. Nat. Ord. Poly- 

 podiacecB. 



A genus of climbing Ferns, mostly of an 

 ornamental character, and widely dispersed 

 over the warmer parts of the earth. L. 

 scandens, introduced from Japan in 1830, is a 

 favorite in the green-house, and is well 

 adapted to house culture, as it requires but 

 little light, and is not injured by " furnace 

 heat" or gas, so fatal to most plants in- 

 troduced into the drawing-room. It is 

 moreover a rapid grower. With a little 

 management this plant can be made to com- 

 plete its growth during the summer, and it 

 may then be placed in a cool room in the 

 house or in the hall, where it will remain an 

 object of beauty till spring, when it may be 

 cut down for a new growth. There is reason 

 to suppose that L. scandens is hardy, even 

 in the vicinity of New York. It is increased 

 by spores or root division. L. palmatum, the 

 only native species, is found in Connecticut, 

 Massachusetts, Virginia, and Kentucky. It 

 is pressed and sold in large quantities for 

 parlor decoration, and is known in the trade 

 as the Hartford Fern. 



Lyo'nia. Named in honor of John Lyon, a col- 

 lector of North American plants. Nat. Ord. 

 Ericaceae. 



This genus formerly included under An- 

 dromeda, comprises about eight species of 

 hardy or green-house trees or shrubs. They 

 are natives of North America, Mexico, 

 Jamaica, and Cuba. L. ligustrina, the 

 American representative of the genus is 

 found in low thickets, and swamps, from Now 

 England to Virginia and southwards. 



Lype'ria. From lyperos, sad or sorrowful ; 

 alluding to the dull, heavy color of the flow- 

 ers. Nat. Ord. Scrophulariacece. A genus of 

 herbs or low-branching under-shrubs, all 

 natives of southern Africa. They are of little 



LYT 



ornamental value, and are but little culti- 

 vated. The flowers of L. crocea have been 

 imported under the name of African Saffron. 



Lyrate. A lyrate leaf is pinnatifld, with the 

 upper lobes much larger than the lower, and 

 ending in one still larger. 



Lysilo'ma. A genus of Leguminosce, of the tribe 

 MimoseoB, formerly combined with Acacia, from 

 which, however, it is botanically different. It 

 comprises eight or ten species, all natives of 

 tropical America, and "is of considerable im- 

 portance in an economic point of view, on 

 account of one of its species yielding the 

 valuable hard timber known as Sabicu, 

 Savacu, or Savico wood, the origin of which 

 was long unknown, but which has now been 

 ascertained to be the product of a species of 

 this genus, to which the name of Sabicu has 

 been given. Sabicu timber is imported in 



' considerable quantities from Cuba, where only, 

 the tree is known to exist. It is a dark 

 colored wood, very heavy, excessively hard, 

 and extremely durable, the two latter quali- 

 ties rendering it of great value to the ship- 

 builder, by whom it is much esteemed. On 

 account of its hardness, it was selected for the 

 stairs of the building for the Great Exhibition 

 in 1851, and notwithstanding the immense 

 number of people who passed up and down, 

 the stairs were found, at the close of the Ex- 

 . hibition, to be scarcely at all the worse for 

 wear. 



Lysima'chia. Loosestrife. From lysis, dis- 

 solving, and mache, strife ; supposed soothing 

 qualities. Nat. Ord. Primulacece. 



Hardy herbaceous perennials of the easiest 

 culture. L. nummularia. Moneywort, is a 

 well-known evergreen trailer, a native of 

 Great Britain. If kept in a pot of moist soil 

 and suspended, it will produce shoots of two 

 or three feet in length, which hang down on 

 every side. L. nummularia aurea is a golden- 

 leaved variety of great beauty, now much 

 used as a drooping plant. L. verticillata is an 

 upright-growing plant, with an abundance of 

 showy yellow flowers suitable for a large 

 border. L. clethroides, a Japanese species 

 is a graceful and beautiful plant, from two to 

 three feet high, bearing long dense nodding 

 spikes of white blossoms, the leaves display- 

 ing brilliant tints in autumn. They are all 

 readily increased by cuttings, seeds or 

 division. 



Lysioiio'tus. From lysis, loosening, and notos, 

 the back ; in reference to the capsule opening 

 with elasticity from the dorsal suture. Nat. 

 Ord. GesneracecB. 



A genus containing a few species of glabrous 

 or pubescent plants, natives of the Himalayas. 

 L. ternifolia (Syn. L. serrata) has compound 

 umbels of beautiful pale lavender-colored 

 flowers, with veins of a deeper color, shaded 

 to soft gray. It was introduced in 1882. 



Lythra'ceee. A natural order of herbs or shrubs, 

 often with square branches, and usually op- 

 posite, entire, exstipulate leaves. The plants 

 are chiefly tropical, but some are found in 

 Europe and North America. They have 

 astringent qualities. Lawsonia alba yields the 

 Henna of the Arabs. There are forty genera, 

 and upwards of 300 species ; Cuphea, Grislea, 

 and Lythrum are good examples of the order. 



