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LAYATERA. A genus of Malvacece 

 chiefly confined to Europe and Western 

 Asia, abounding principally in the coun- 

 I tries bordering on the Mediterranean, and 

 1 apparently preferring the vicinity of the 

 : sea, one species extending as far north as 

 \ the British Isles. They are shrubby plants, 

 | sometimes having woody stems two to 

 three feet high, their leaves being round- 

 ish and lobed, and their flowers having 

 a three to six-lobed involucre, a five- 

 lobed true calyx, five or more carpels or 

 ovaries arranged in a circle round a thick 

 axis, and as many styles. L. arborea, the 

 Sea or Tree Mallow, is a common south- 

 west European plant, growing upon rocks 

 on the sea-shores, occasionally found in a 

 wild state on the south and west coasts of 

 England and Ireland, and also on the Bass 

 Rock in the Frith of Forth, but more fre- 

 ouently seen in places where it has es- 

 : caped from cultivation, it being a common 

 | plant in sea-coast cottage gardens. In a 

 • wild state it is usually three or four feet 

 ! high, but when cultivated it attains a 

 i height of eight or ten feet, and its stem is 

 ! three or four inches thick. The pale purple- 

 i red flowers grow in long racemes at the 

 ends of annual flowering branches. Like 

 the rest of mallowworts the Tree Mallow 

 contains an abundance of mucilaginous 

 I matter, and a large quantity of fibre. It 

 ! has lately been recommended for cultiva- 

 | tion as a fibre-yielding plant, but the qua- 

 lity of its fibre is not very good. [A. S.J 



LAYATERE D'HYERES. (Fr.) Lavatera 

 Olbia. 



LAYEXDER. Lavandula vera. — , 

 FRENCH. Lavandula Spica. — , SEA. 

 Statice. 



LAVEXDER COLOUR. Pale blue, with 

 a slight mixture of grey. 

 LAYEXDER-COTTOX. Santolina. 



LAYER. A condiment prepared from 

 the common Porphyra, which is greatly 

 esteemed by some, while to others it is an 

 object of unmitigated disgust. The taste 

 for it, like that for olives, is only acquired 

 by use. The best way of preparing it for 

 table is to mix the quantity required for 

 immediate use with afewtablespoonfuls of 

 stock, and a little lemon-juice. It is then to 

 be made quite hot in a well-tinned or silver 

 saucepan, and poured upon toast. Green 

 Laver is Viva hrtissima. [M. J. B.] 



LAVOIR DE YEXUS. (Fr.) Dipsacus 

 sylvestris. 



LAYOTSIERA. A genus of Melastoma- 



: cece, consisting of shrubs with dichotomous 



i erect branches, opposite decussate sessile 



' leaves, and terminal bracteated showy 



flowers, with a five to ten-toorhed calyx, 



five to ten petals, and ten to twenty sta- 



5 mens, the anthers with a short beak, and a 



single pore. The fruit is a capsule covered 



' by the calyx. There are about twenty spe- 



i cies, natives of Brazil. [J. H. B.] 



| LAVRADIA. A genus of Sa.uvogesiaceo'-, 



j consisting of smooth undershrubs, with 



crowded alternate stipuled leaves, and 

 white or rose-coloured panicles, bracteated 

 flowers, having a five-parted calyx, five 

 hypogynous convolute petals, hypogynous 

 stamens, the outer ones petaloid stamino- 

 dia, and a free ovary three-celled at the 

 base and one-celled at the apex. The few 

 species are natives of Brazil. [J. H. BJ 



LAWRENCELLA rosea is a very pretty 

 dwarf Swan River annual, described by 

 Lindley t*s forming a genus of Composilce, 

 of the tribe Qnaphaliece. It resembles Eho- 

 danthe, but is said to be handsomer, and 

 differs in the achenes being covered with 

 long clavate glands, and in the pappus not 

 being plumose. The leaves are said to be 

 fragrant. 



LAWRENCIA. The name of a small 

 malvaceousherb of Tasmania, having small 

 flowers arranged in densely-crowded spikes, 

 provided with numerous bracts ; each flow- 

 er has an involucel of three segments, and 

 an inner bell-shaped five-cleft calyx, five 

 lance-shaped petals, and reniform two- 

 valved anthers : and the fruit consists of 

 Ave one-celled one-seeded indehiscent cap- 

 sules. [31. T. M.] 



LAWSONIA. The celebrated Henna of 

 the East, L. alba, or as sometimes called 

 L. biennis, the only species of this genus 

 of Lythraceoz, is a dwarf shrub eight or 

 ten feet high, bearing smooth oval lance- 

 shaped entire leaves, and panicles of small 

 white sweet-smelling flowers, which are 

 used by Buddhists as offerings to their 

 deities. These flowers have a four-parted 

 persistent calyx without intermediate 

 teeth, four spreading petals, eight stamens, 

 and a four-celled ovary. The fruit is about 

 as large as a pea. 



This shrub is grown throughout India, 

 Kurdistan, Persia, Syria, Egypt, and the 

 north of Africa, and the use of its powdered 

 leaves as a cosmetic is very general in all 

 these countries, the practice having de- 

 scended from very remote ages, as is 

 proved by the evidence of Egyptian mum- 

 mies, the parts dyed being usually the fin- 

 ger and toe nails, the tips of the fingers, 

 the palms of the hands, and the soles of 

 the feet, to all of which it imparts a reddish- 

 orange colour, which is considered by the 

 Oriental fair sex greatly to enhance their 

 beauty ! It is also used by the men for 

 colouring their beards, and by the Arabs 

 for dyeing the manes and tails of their 

 I horses. The preparation of henna usually 

 I consists in simply reducing the leaves and 

 ! young twigs to a fine powder, but some- 

 times powdered catechu or lucern leaves 

 ! are mixed with it. When required for use, 

 this powder is made into a pasty mass with 

 hot water, and then spread upon the part 

 to be dyed, being generally allowed to re- 

 main on for one night. Henna is the Per- 

 sian name of the shrub, Khenna the Egyp- 

 tian, Al Khanna the Arabic, and Mendee 

 i the Indian, while in England it is often 

 1 called Egyptian Privet, and in the West 

 Indies, where it is naturalised, it goes by 

 ■ the name of Jamaica Mignonette. [A. S.] 



