lata] 



Efje Crcagurn of 33atann. 



662 



Quite free ; while the other, which is free- 

 veined, is separated by its peltate indusia. 

 Sagenia, another group with reniforra 

 indusia, is separated by its compoundly 

 anastomosing veins. The species are well 

 represented in gardens, and consist princi- 

 pally of those whose veins are simple, as in 

 L. invisa, and those whose veins are forked, 

 as in L. marginalis. Several of our British 

 species belong to this genus, of which, in- 

 deed, L. Filix-mas is the type. A similar 

 name, Lastrcea, was formerly given to cer- 

 tain species supposed to be allies of Poly- 

 podium, and this name is sometimes mis- 

 takenly used for the modern group, which 

 was defined by Presl under the name of 

 Lastrea. A fine Japanese species, L. Sie- 

 bolclli, has several series of sori. [T. M.] 



LATANIA. A small genus of African 

 palms, forming trees of twenty or thirty 

 feet high, their stems marked with circu- 

 lar scars, and bearing at the summit a tuft 

 of fan-shaped leaves, from the lower part 

 of which the branching flower-spikes, 

 sheathed in incomplete spathes, emerge. 

 The two sexes of flowers grow on separate 

 trees, the males being disposed in many- 

 flowered, the females in fewer-flowered, 

 cylindrical catkins. Both have three sepals 

 and three petals. The fruits contain three 

 rough stones, covered with a bony net- 

 work. The round or somewhat three-sided 

 yellowish fruit of L. Commersonii is about 

 the size of a small apple, covered with a 

 tough rind, and containing a small quantity 

 of pulp, which the negroes eat in spite 

 of its very disagreeable flavour. It is a 

 native of Bourbon and Mauritius, and is 

 one of the palms cultivated in the hot- 

 houses of European gardens. [A. S.] 



LATERA. Sides; the two opposite sides 

 of a stem or similar body. 



LATERAL. Fixed near or upon the side 

 of anything. 



LATERINERVED. Straight-veined, like 

 the leaves of grasses. 



LATERITIUS. Red brick colour. 



LATEX. The same as Lac (which see), 

 but the term is extended to any kind of vis- 

 cid fluid conveyed in laticiferous vessels, 

 whether opaque or not. Latex granules 

 are particles of starch or other matter, 

 floating in the latex. 



LATHR./EA. Toothwort, a curious her- 

 baceous plnnt belonging to the Orobancha- 

 cece, and having the habit of an Orobanclie, 

 from which it may be distinguished by its 

 four-cleft calyx. L. Squamaria, the only 

 species, has a simple fleshy erect stem, 

 about a foot high, leafless, but furnished 

 with numerous fleshy scale-like bracts; 

 and dull purple or flesh-coloured drooping 

 flowers.which grow in two rows on the same 

 side of the stem. The root, which is parasitic 

 on the roots of various trees, is branched 

 and clothed with numerous fleshy scales, 

 which, from their resemblance to human 

 front teeth, originated the English name. 

 In accordance with the common fallacy of 



the old herbalists, its tooth-like roots were 

 considered a specific for tooth-ache, but the 

 plant has no known virtues. French, Clan- 

 destine ; German, Schuppenwurz. [C. A. J.] 



LATHYRUS. A genus of Leguminnsce, 

 of the suborder Papilionacece, very nearly 

 allied to Vicia, but distinguished by the 

 style, which is flattened below the stigma, 

 quite glabrous on the outer side, but 

 more or less downy on the inner face 

 for some way below the stigma. There 

 are a considerable number of species, I 

 mostly known by the name of Peas. In- I 

 deed, the common pea (for which see | 

 Pisdm) ought, strictly speaking, to be in- 

 cluded in the same genus, the characters 

 by which botanists have been in the habit 

 of separating it being of very trifling va- 

 lue. The true Lathyri are dispersed over 

 vai - ious parts of the globe, chiefly in tem- 

 perate climates or in mountain ranges 

 within the tropics. They are herbs Avith 

 weak stems, sometimes climbing, the leaves 

 usually pinnate, with fewer and larger leaf- 

 lets than in the vetches, and often only one 

 pair or even none at all, the common stalk 

 always ending in a point or atendril. The 

 flowers are solitary or in racemes, purple, 

 red, blue, white, or bright yellow, and often 

 very handsome. 



Several species are in cultivation. L. 

 odoratus, the Sweet Pea of our gardens, an 

 annual well known for its showy sweet- 

 scented flowers, two or rarely three toge- 

 ther on each peduncle, is a native of south- 

 ern Sicily, where it is not uncommon wild, 

 in cultivated as well as in bushy places. 

 L. latifolius, cultivated in flower-gardens 

 as the Everlasting Pea, is a slight variety 

 of L. sylvestris, a species dispersed over the 

 greater part of Europe, and known by its 

 perennial root-stock, its single pair of lan- 

 ceolate or rarely ovate leaflets, and its 

 loose racemes of rather large reddish-pur- 

 ple scentless flowers. The garden variety 

 has broader leaflets, and larger, more richly 

 coloured, flowers. L. sativus, an annual 

 with leaflets in single pairs, bluish flowers 

 growing singly on each peduncle, and 

 winged broad short pods, is extensively 

 cultivated in Southern Europe, under the 

 name of Jarosse or Gesse, for its seed, which 

 is eaten in the same way as the chick pea 

 {dicer), but is of superior quality ; the pod 

 is also eaten green, and the whole plant is 

 sometimes cut for forage, while the peas 

 are much given to poultry. L. Cieera, an an- 

 nual like the last but with red flowers, is 

 also grown occasionally for its peas, under 

 the names of Jarosse pois-carres. or lesser 

 chick pea, but is of a still inferior quality, 

 and said to be sometimes very unwhole- 

 some. L. tuberosus, a very handsome peren- 

 nial, with purplish-red often sweet-scented 

 flowers, not uncommon in cornfields in 

 several parts of Europe, has been recently 

 detected in Essex. In countries where it 

 is abundant, its tuberous roots are much 

 sought after for eating, boiled, or baked 

 like potatoes, but it is now much less com- 

 mon than it used to be. L. pratensis, com- 

 mon in our meadows, has short racemes 



