LOPHANTHUS 



LOPHANTHUS (Greek, crexled flower; applicali.)ii 

 iii.t evident). LnbiiUa. Of this genus we cultivate 2 

 species of hardy herbaceous perennials, which are rather 

 tall and coarse and bear spikes of more or less purplish 

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

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

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

 den.se sessile whorls crowded into terminal spikes, 

 which may be interrupted below; stamens exserted; 

 anthers separated or di.stant, not approximate in pairs, 

 their cells parallel or nearly so. Of minor value. 



anisatus, Benth. Gi.\nt Hyssop. ITeif^dit 2-.'! ft.: lvs. 

 ovate, anise-scented when crushetl, white beneath: tls. 

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

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

 grows 8-5 ft. high, on dry hills, and has pale purple 

 Mowers. 



scrophulariasJdlius, Benth. Height i-C ft. : lvs. not 

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

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

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

 der-blue flowers in June. 



LOPHOSPflEMTJM. See Maurnndia. 



LORDS AND LADIES. Arum mai-ulalum. 



LOQUAT. See Eriobotrija Japoidra . 



LOTUS 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 Lotus cor- 

 -niciilatus, 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 

 Avho 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 Zizyplins Lotion, a prickly shrult 

 whose fruit is, however, considered inferior to that of 

 the common jujube, Zlztjplius sativa. Other conjectures 

 have been: Celtic australts, a tree which has a small, 

 sweet berry; Nitrarln tridentata , a thorny desert shrult 

 whose succulent fruit has a stimulating quality, and 

 Bhaninus Lotus, another North African plant. Euro- 

 pean Lotus is a Tiame for Diospifros I/olos, a kind of 

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

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

 This \^ JS^ymphwa Tvo^/is, w^hich, like the Hindu Lotus, 

 has rose-colored as well as white flowers. American 

 cultivators at the present time almost universally con- 

 sider that the true Egyptian Lotus is Nelumhium spe- 

 ciosum, now called Nctumbo, but Neluinhiurti speciosuni 

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

 Lotus, also called the Sacred or Pythagorean Bean. This 

 is IVelumbo Indica, better known as Nelumbium spcci- 

 omiDi. The name Lotus was doubtless used for other 

 water lilies, particularly the blue-flowered Nymphivd 

 cm-iika. These plants are described in this work. See 

 iVelumbo and Ntjmphwa. 



Lotus of the botanists is a genu.s 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. Legucninosa3. 



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



BertholStii, Mast. {L. peliorhf/iicus. Hook. L.peli/or- 

 (nsis, Hort.j. Small, much-branched, slender bush, with 

 a silvery hue: Ifts. whorled, 8-9 lines long: fls. lU' 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. 

 (1733. 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. 



LOUISIANA 



945 



AA. Lrs. nut lliread-lil;e : fls . pea-shaped. 

 B. Ji'ls. yellow. 

 ^ comicuMtus, Linn. Bied'.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 one.s broader and very oblique: 

 Hs. yellow, often tinged bright red, 5-10 in an umbel; 

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

 and Australia. Var. Sldre-pleno has showy double Hs.— 

 A hardy trailer for covering .Iry banks and rockwork, 

 blooming all summer and autumn. Also grown for 

 forage. 



BB. Fls. pink iir udiite. 

 austraiis, Andr. Perennial, diffuse, sometime.? sub- 

 shrubby, glabrous or pubescent: Ifts. narrower than in 

 L. eornienlafiis, 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. ]3()5". 

 L.B.C. ll:10i;:i and B. 5:211 (as L. albidus) .-lut. 19110 

 by Franceschi. 



BBB. Fls. dark purjile or dark red. 



n. Lffs. linear-laneeolate. 



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



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



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



bedding plant. 



uo. Lfts. obovate to elliptic. 



Tetragondlobus, Linn. Winced 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 plnk-fld. Abyssinian pl.int, was int. to 

 American trade by Fraucesflii, wlio saj-s it was originally sent 

 oat by Damniann & Co., Naples, Ital.v, .-md is not worth cult.— 

 L. Oanariensis florilmndus is not in Index Kewensis. Frances- 

 <'tii writes that it has yellow fls. and is desirable for rockeries 

 and liangini,' b.askets; that it is not tar from L. cornicnlatus, 

 but has a different habit: and that it w;is offered many years 

 at'O by Wildpret of Orotana and later by Albert Sclicubel of 

 H.amliurg. xy t,t 



LOTJISIANA (Fig. 1320) is situated at the extreme 

 lower limit of the great Mississippi system, bordering 

 f)n tlie Gulf of Mexico. These bodies of water have an 

 impiortant 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 15 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 50°. 

 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 oti 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 Uphr nds . — 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. — The^.^ occupy a broken 

 strip, running parallel with the Mississippi, from 30 to 



