I LEDO] 



Ef)e Crratfurg af 23otang. 



668 



the outside ; five petals, ten free stamens, 

 and a five-celled capsule. [J. T. BJ 



LEDON, or LEDE. (Fr.) Ledum. 



LEDUM. A genus of heathworts, hav- 

 ing the calyx five-toothed, and the seed- 

 vessel with five cells, each containing nu- 

 merous small seeds, the outer coat of which 

 is soft and forms a wing-like border at 

 each end. The species are small shrubs, 

 natives of the colder parts of the northern 

 hemisphere ; their leaves are of hard tex- 

 ture, usually with rust-coloured down on 

 the lower surface. One of them, L. palustre, 

 is known by the name of Labrador Tea, on 

 account of its use. [G. D.] 



LEEA. A genus of Vitacece, the type of 

 the suborder Leece, distinguished by its pe- 

 tals being united at the base, by its mona- 

 delphous stamens, and by its three to six- 

 celled ovaries, with the ovules solitary in 

 each cell. The tendrils which are present 

 in the true vines are absent in this sub- 

 order. They are rough shrubby plants ; 

 (rarely trees) found in tropical Asia, Africa, ! 

 and the Mauritius, and have opposite pin- | 

 nate or bi-tri-pinnate leaves, and peduncles i 

 opposite the leaves, cymosely branched, 

 with small greenish-yellow flowers, the 

 petals united to the staminal cup, which 

 is five-lobed, and has the five filaments ad- 

 nate outside between the lobes. [J. T. SJ I 



LEE-CHEE, or LITCHI. Nephelium 

 Litchi. 



LEEK. Allium Porrum. — , STONE. 

 Allium fistulosum. — , VINE. Allium Am- 

 peloprasum. 



LEERSIA. A genus of grasses belong- 

 ing to the tribe Oryzece. Most of the spe- 

 cies have the inflorescence in lax panicles ; 

 and the pales of the florets ribbed, thin, j 

 paper-like, of equal length, the outer some- 

 what boat-shaped. There are about a dozen 

 species, which have an extensive range 

 over some of the warmer parts of the 

 globe ; only one extends so far north as the 

 British Isles, namely, L. oryzoides, which 

 I i is found in wet ditches through the coun- 

 i ties of Sussex, Surrey, and Hampshire, 

 | though it seldom flowers there. [D. M.] 

 LEGNOTIDEiE. (Cassipourece.) A tribe 

 of Ehizophoracew, sometimes regarded as 

 a distinct order. It consists of tropical 

 trees or shrubs, with opposite entire sti- 

 pulate leaves, and axillary solitary or clus-* 

 tered flowers, having the calyx bell-shaped, 

 four to five-cleft ; the petals four to five, 

 fringed ; and the stamens two or three 

 times as many as the petals, distinct, 

 with free filaments, and two-celled introrse 

 anthers. The ovary is superior, three to 

 five-celled ; ovules two or more in each cell ; 

 style simple; stigma blunt. Fruit baccate 

 or capsular. Lindley considers them to be 

 allied to Loganiacece. Cassipourea is the 

 principal genus. [J. H. B.] 



LEGUME. The fruit of leguminous 

 plants, as the pod of the pea ; a solitary two- 

 valved carpel, bearing its seeds on the ven- 

 tral suture only. 



LEGUMINOS.E. (Fabacece, Leguminous 

 plants.) A natural order of dicotyledons 

 belonging to Lindley's rosal alliance of 

 perigynous Exogens. Herbs, shrubs, or 

 trees, with alternate usually compound 

 stipulate leaves. Calyx five-parted, hypo- 

 gynous, the odd segment inferior ; petals 

 usually five, sometimes one or more abor- 

 tive, papilionaceous or regular, the odd 

 petal superior ; stamens definite or inde- 

 finite, perigynous, rarely hypogynous, dis- 

 tinct, or united in one or more bundles; 

 ovary superior, one-celled, one or many- 

 seeded, sometimes consisting of one carpel, 

 sometimes of two or five ; style and stigma 

 simple. Fruit a legume or a drupe ; seeds 

 with or without albumen; embryo with 

 large cotyledons. 



This order is a large one, and the plants 

 occur in all parts of the world,but are abun- 

 . dant in tropical countries. It has been 

 divided into three suborders— 1. Papilio- 

 nacece : petals papilionaceous imbricate, 

 ! upper one exterior ; 2. Ccesalpiniece : petals 

 imbricated, upper one interior; 3. Mi- 

 j mosece : petals valvate in estivation. Some 

 of the plants are nutritious, others tonic 

 and astringent, others purgative, and a few 

 poisonous. They supply timber, fibres, 

 gums, dyes, and various economical sub- 

 stances. Amongst the useful plants of the 

 order may he noted, beans, peas, lentils, 

 kidneybeans, and pulse of various kinds, 

 lupins, clover, lucerne, medick, sainfoin, 

 liquorice, tragacanth, indigo, and kino. 

 Among the poisonous plants are Coronilla 

 varia, Cytisus Laburnum, Gomplwlobium 

 uncinatum, and Physostigma venenosum, 

 the ordeal bean of Calabar. There are 

 about 550 genera and 7,000 species. Ex- 

 amples : Lotus, Pisum, Vicia, Phaseqlus, 

 Ccesalpinia, Cassia, Acacia. [J. H. BJ 



LEHMANNIA. A Peruvian undershrub 

 constituting a genus of Solanacece, or of 

 Atropacece according to Miers. It has de- 

 current lance-shaped leaves, and racemes 

 of dull purple flowers, the corollas of which 

 are funnel-shaped with a short tube and 

 a bell-shaped somewhat oblique plaited and 

 five-toothed limb. By these latter charac- 

 ters the genus is distinguished from Nico- 

 tiana. [M. T. M.] 



LEIANTHUS. A genus of Gentiana- 

 cece, very closely allied to Lisianthus and 

 Tachia. The points of distinction reside 

 in the corolla which is regular ; in the sta- 

 mens which are bent downwards, and pro- 

 trude beyond the corolla ; and in the fruit 

 which is one^celled, with the margins of 

 the valves bent inwards. The leaves are op- 

 posite, and have sheathing connate stalks. 

 The species are natives of the West Indies 

 and Mexico. L. nigrescens has pendent 

 purplish flowers, which in outward appear- 

 ance are somewhat like those of Atragene. 

 L. longiflorus has yellow tubular flowers. 

 Both are highly ornamental. [M. T. MJ 



LEICHARDTIA. A genus of Australian 

 Asclepiadacece, having a five-parted calyx, 

 an urceolate corolla with the tube beard- 

 less within, and the throat with a thick- 



