LATHYRUS-LEMNA. 109 



LATHYRDS. 1&-10. (LeguminoscB.) [From Za/Auros, leguminous.] 



odora'tus, {sweet pea, J. ©.) peduncles 2-flowered; tendril with ovate-oblong 

 leafets ; legumes hirsute. Ex. 



latifo'lius, (everlasting-pea, Au. 11-.) peduncles many-flowered ; tendril with 

 2 lance-ovate leaves ; membranaceous between joints. Ex. 



palus"l>is, (w-p. Ju. %.) stem smooth, winged, weak; leafets in 3 pairs, ob- 

 long, mucronate ; stipules acute, .semi-sagittate ; peduncles 3-5-flowered, a 

 little longer than the leaves ; legume compressed. Low grounds. 



myrtifo'lms, flowers smaller than the preceding, purple and rose-coloured; 

 leafets 4, reticulate, scabrous on the margin ; peduncles longer than the 

 leaves, 3-4-flowered. Salt marshes. 



veno'sus, numerous leafets, veiny; peduncles shorter than the leaves, 4-5- 

 flowered. 



LAURUS. 9—1. (Lauri.) [From laus, praise, because it was used to crown the heads of dis- 

 tinguished persons.] 



ben"zoin, (spice bush, fever bush, g. y. Ap. l^-) leaves wedge-obovate, whi- 

 tish, sub-pubescent beneath; flowers in clustered umbels; buds and pedicels 

 glabrous. 4-10 f. 



sas"safras, (sassafras-tree, y. M. I^.) leaves entire and lobed on the same 

 plant ; flowers mostly dioecious. 10-25 f 



carolin"e7isis, leaves perennial, oval, lanceolate, coriaceous, glaucous beneath, 

 peduncles simple, terminated with a few-flowered fascicle ; outer segments 

 of the calyx half as long as the inner. A large shrub. Flowers polyga- 

 mous, in small clusters, pale yellow ; drupe dark blue. From Georgia to 

 Delaware. 



perse'a, alligator pear of the West Indies, an eatable fruit. 



cirmamo'num, the inner bark affords the cinnamon of commerce. Indies. 



no'bilis, leaves veined, lanceolate and perennial; flowers 4-cleft. This is the 

 poet's laurel, the fabled favourite of Apollo. It is a handsome evergreen 

 shrub ; berries and leaves fragrant. Native of Italy. 



camphor a' tits, (camphor-tree, Ij.) leaves about 3-nerved, lance-ovate; panicle 

 spreading. From Japan. 



LAVANDUL.i. 13—1. (Labial ce,.) [From touo, to wash, so called, because, on account of its 

 perfume, it was used in baths.] 



spica'ta, (lavender, Au. Tj. ) leaves sessile, lance-linear, with revolute mar- 

 gins; spike interruptedly naked. Ex. 

 LAVATERA. 15—13. (MalvacecB.') [In honour of Lavater, a celebrated writer on physiognomy.) 



t'rimen"s.is, (red lavatera,) lower leaves angled ; upper ones 3-lobed, with the* 

 middle lobe longest; peduncles solitary. 2 f . Introduced. 



arho'rca, (tree-mallows, S. J^.) stem woody ; leaves downy, plaited, 7-angled ; 

 flowers large, purplish, rose-colour, darker on the base, on aggregated, ax- 

 illary stalks. Ex. 



LEDUM. 10—1. (Ericea.) [From the Zedora of the ancient Greeks, supposed to have been a 

 species of Cistus.] 

 latifo'lium, (Labrador tea, w. r. J. %.) leaves oblong, replicate at the margin, 

 ferruginous, tomentose beneath; stamens 5, as long as the corolla. Ever- 

 green shrub, irregularly branched, woolly ; flowers in long, terminal co- 

 rymbs. 

 palus"trc, leaves linear, revolute on the margin ; stamens 10, longer than the 

 corolla. A shrub smaller than the preceding, with narrower leaves. 

 LEERSIA. 3—2. (GraminecB.) [In honour of Leers, who wrote on botany in 1775.] 

 virgin"ica, (white grass, Ju. y. %.) panicle simple ; the lower branches difluse ; 

 flowers appressed, monandrous, sparingly ciliate on the keel. 2-4 f. 

 LEIOPHYLLUM. 10—1. (Ericem.) [Prom (etos, smooth, and pAM^Zon, leaf] 

 buxifoli'um, (sand myrtle, w. T^.) leaves small, lance-oval, entire, glabrous, 

 lucid, revolute at the margin ; corymbs terminal. 6-18 i. 

 LEMNA. 19—2. (Naides.) [From Zemo, deprived of bark.] 

 trisuV'ca, (duck's meat, ©, f.) fronds thin, elliptic-lanceolate, caudate at one 

 extremity, at the other serrate ; root a single fibre. Young fronds produc- 

 ed from lateral clefts^ of the same shape as the parent plant, and again pro- 

 liferous before they are detached. Flowers very minute. Water. 



