varieties from the mountains of Asia, r 

 ; which differ slightly in the pappus from 

 I other species. They are also remarkable 

 I for their dense clusters of flower-heads 

 ] surrounded by a kind of radiating general 

 involucre of floral leaves, all densely 

 clothed with a close white cotton. 



LEONURT7S. A small genus of Labiatce, 

 consisting of erect herbs, with the leaves 

 more or less lobed, and the small flowers 

 in close axillary verticillasters, forming 

 long leafy spikes. The calyx has five pro- 

 minent ribs and five equal spreading al- 

 most prickly teeth; the corolla has a short- 

 ish tube, a concave entire upper lip, and a 

 spreading three-lobed lower one ; the sta- 

 mens form two pairs ; and the nuts are 

 flat, angular at top. L. Cardiaca, or Mother- 

 wort, is found in wastes, hedges, &c, in 

 Europe and Russian Asia, and has pinkish 

 flowers with a very hairy upper lip. The 

 genus is allied to Stachys, differing chiefly 

 in the shape of the nuts'. [T. M.] 



LEOPARD'S BANE. Doronicum; also 

 Senecw Doronicum, Aronicum Clusii, and 

 Paris quadrifolia. 



LEOPARD-WOOD. The wood of Bro- 

 simum Aubletii , also said to be applied to 

 a fancy wood of the palm tribe. 



LEOPOLDINIA. A small genus of Bra- 

 zilian palms, comprising three or four 

 species, existing in considerable numbers 

 on the Amazon and R.io Negro, and forming 

 trees of medium size bearing terminal 

 unarmed pinnate leaves, and having the 

 upper part of their stems covered with a 

 copious network of fibres. Their flower- 

 spikes are very much branched, with two 

 small spathes, the male flowers being seated 

 on the upper, and the female on the lower 

 part of the spike. 



L. Piassaba is one of the palms which 

 yield the Piassaba or Piaqaba fibre, now so 

 extensively employed in this country by 

 brush-makers as a substitute for bristles, 

 and also for making the stout street brooms 

 used in most large cities. Two distinct 

 varieties of this fibre are recognised in 

 commerce, one a coarse kind obtained 

 from Attalea funifera and imported from 

 Bahia ; and the other a finer kind brought 

 from Para, the produce of the Leopoldinia, 

 which is found growing in great abundance 

 on the extensive plains between the Rio 

 Negro and Orinoco rivers, forming entire 

 forests. It attains a height of fifteen or 

 twenty, or occasionally as much as forty 

 feet, and the fibre or beard, as it is usually 

 called, which is the envelope of the young 

 leaves, hangs down all round and com- 

 pletely covers the trunk quite to the ground, 

 except in very tall trees, the lower part of 

 whose trunk is generally bare. [A. S.] 



LEOTIA. A genus of the helvellaceous 

 order of pyrenomycetous Fungi, distin- 

 guished by its gelatinous substance, and 

 the button shaped head, the borders of 

 which are rounded and confluent below 

 with the stem. L. Ivhrica is a common in- 

 II 



habitant of our woods, and varies in tint 

 from dull yellow to olive. [M. J. BJ 



LEPALS. Sterile stamens. 



LEPANTHES. A genus of minute- 

 flowered West Indian orchids, closely re- 

 lated to Pleurothallis. [T. M.J 



LEP1CYST1S. GoniophleMum. 



LEPIDADENIA. A genus of Lauracew, 

 represented by an Indian tree, with ribbed 

 leaves,and hermaphrodite flowers in umbels 

 surrounded by an involucre. The perianth 

 has six nearly equal segments; stamens 

 twelve in four rows, the two inner sur- 

 rounded by scales, whence the name ; an- 

 thers four-celled, four-valved. [M. T. M.] 



LEPIDANCHE. A proposed genus of 

 Cuscuiacece, but generally accepted as a sec- 

 tion of Cuscuta, including those species 

 which have five sepals in the calyx, a sub- 

 tubulose urceolate corolla, a two-celled 

 ovary always with two styles, and a two- 

 celled capsule with no more than one seed 

 in each cell. [W. C] 



LEPIDANTHUS. A genus of Restiacece 

 from the Cape of Good Hope, with simple 

 leafless stems, and spicate terminal male 

 flowers, which have three glumes, and 

 three stamens. [J. T. S.] 



LEPIDES i.adj. LEPIDOTE). Scurfs ; mi- 

 nute peltate scales, such as cover the 

 foliage of Elceagnus. 



LEPIDIUM. The Cresses form a very 

 extensive genus of Brassicacece (Cruciferce) 

 widely spread throughout the temperate 

 regions of the earth, but abounding in the 

 greatest number in the northern hemi- 

 sphere. They are annual or perennial 

 herbs, occasionally with woody stems, and 

 have entire or variously cut leaves, and 

 numerous small white flowers arranged 

 in terminal racemes, which grow longer 

 while fruiting. The genus is distinguished 

 from its congeners by characters taken 

 from its pods, which are egg-shaped or 

 oblong, entire, notched or two-lobedat the 

 apex, and compressed at right angles to the 

 narrow partition dividing them into two 

 boat-shaped valves. 



L. oleraceum is confined to New Zealand, 

 where it is found growing abundantly upon 

 the sea-shores, and, being a good antiscor- 

 butic, it was eagerly sought after by early 

 voyagers as a remedy for the dreadful 

 scurvy with which their crews were so fre- 

 quently affected. The natives call it Eke- 

 tera ; and it is now cultivated as a pot-herb. 

 It is a smooth erectish branching plant, 

 with a short woody stem and narrow-ob- 

 long or wedgeshaped leaves, two or three 

 inches long, the lower ones being sharply 

 serrated, and the upper entire or toothed 

 towards the tip. The natives of the Society 

 and Sandwich Islands make use of L. Pisci- 

 dium for catching fish, it, in common with 

 several other plants, possessing the pro- 

 perty of intoxicating them so that they 

 float upon the surface in a helpless insen- 

 sible state, and are then easily taken. The 



