701 



EI)£ Ercasrttrg nf 23ntang. 



[lyco 



are small or absent ; they are all arctic 

 plants. Eudianthe, calyx clavate, with the 

 veins prominent in fruit, and often rough- 

 ened, as in Viscaria Cceli-rosa. [J. T. SJ 



LYCHNIS, ROCK. Viscaria. 



LYCIOPLESIFM. Afew South American 

 shrubs constituting a genus of Solanacece. 

 They have spiny stems, rather thick leaves 

 somewhat closely packed together in tufts, 

 and solitary or axillary flowers, with a 

 hell-shaped five-toothed calyx, and a tubu- 

 lar reddish-coloured corolla, whose limb is 

 divided into five acute lobes. The fruit is 

 succulent, enclosed within the persistent 

 calyx, and of a red or orange colour. The 

 generic name is expressive of its close 

 affinity to the genus Lycium. [M. T. M.] 



LYCIUM. A name applied to some 

 thorny shrub by Dioscorides, and now 

 adopted for one of the genera of Solanacece. 

 The species are shrubs, natives of the Me- 

 diterranean region, and of some parts of 

 tropical America. Their inflorescence is 

 various. The calyx is cup-shaped, five- 

 | toothed, sometimes irregular ; the corolla 

 j funnel-shaped or tubular, with a five-cleft 

 i limb; stamens five, the anthers opening 

 j lengthwise : ovary two-celled ; fruit succu- 

 1 lent in the cup-like calyx. 



The species are numerous. Some are 



j grown in greenhouses, whilst others are 



hardy. Among the latter is L. barbarum, 



: a plant which, from its rapid growth, 



green foliage, and small lilac flowers, 



! which are succeeded by scarlet or orange 



i fruits, is often met with in gardens. It is 



well adapted to cover trellises, walls, &c, 



| and is commonly known as the Tea plant, 



: as its leaves have been recommended for 



use in place of tea— a piece of advice not 



; generally acted upon, it would seem. The 



plant may sometimes be found in a semi- 



. wild state in hedges, having escaped from 



I cultivation. L. europcev.m is made use of 



' as a hedge plant in Tuscany and Spain, 



j and the young shoots are employed as a 



\ vegetable. L. a/rum, a spiny species with 



• violet flowers, forms a handsome plant on 



• a sheltered wall . [M. T. M.] 



j LYCOGALA. A genus of myxogastrous 



Fungi, familiar to many from one of its 



; species giving out in its young state, when 



i divided, a rich blood-like pulp. When dry, 



! L. epidendron forms globose somewhat fur- 



. furaceous bodies about the size of a nut, 



filled with dull pinkish-grey cinereous 



dirty white or yellowish spores, and a few 



; threads which are attached to the walls. 



| It occurs on sticks in woods, and has a 



l wide geographical range. The variability 



; in the colour of the spores is singular, i 



' though a parallel example occurs in the , 



genus JEthalium. [M. J. B.] 



LYCOPERDE DES BOTJVTERS. (Jr.) 

 Lycoperdon Bovista. 



LYCOPERDON. One of the principal j 



genera of the natural order Trichogastres, [ 



among the gasteromycetous Fungi. The , 



peridium is double, but the outer coat, I 



! which breaks np into warts, spines, scales, ! 



I &c, is intimately connected with the in- 

 ner coat, and the spores are mostly sessile, 

 , though occasionally stipitate as in Bovista, 

 | from which it is distinguished by its less 

 I persistent inner peridium, and moreadnate 

 outer coat. The species are produced abun- 

 dantly in almost every country, but are 

 so variable that it is often very difficult to 

 distinguish them. L. Bovista, when quite 

 young, in which state even, it attains a l 

 large size, is one of the best of fungi if cut ! 

 in slices and fried, but we cannot say much i 

 in favour of other large species. The dry ! 

 mass of threads and spores is used as a 

 styptic, and its fumes answer the purpose i 

 of chloroform. The spores are generally ; 

 more or less olivaceous, but occasionally I 

 they assume a purple tint. [M. J. BJ 



LYCOPERDON NUTS. The name under \ 

 which the herbalists sell our common spe- 

 cies of Elaphomyces. [M. J. B.] 



I LYCOPERSICUM. A genus of Solana- 

 cew established by Tournefort, but after- 

 wards combined with Solatium by Linnams, 

 although now generally recognised by mo- 

 dern botanists as distinct. Ten species, 

 all natives of South America, chiefly of 

 the Peruvian side, are described. They 

 are either annual or perennial herbaceous 

 plants, generally with weak stems trailing 

 upon the ground or supporting themselves 

 on other plants ; they have irregularly 

 pinnate leaves, and stalks bearing many 

 flowers growing from the sides of the 

 stems. The flowers are easily distinguish- 

 able from those of the allied Solanum, by 

 their stam ens having the anthers connected 

 together by a thin membrane which is 

 prolonged upwards, and by their cells 

 opening by means of a long slit down the 

 inside, instead of by two pores or holes at 

 the top. The fruits are fleshy, usually red 

 or yellow, and very glossy, and are divided 

 into two, three, or many cells, containing 

 numerous seeds imbedded in pulp. 



L. esculentum is the Tomato or Love 

 Apple. It is an annual plant, native of the 

 warmer parts of America, but long ago in- 

 troduced into most other warm or tempe- 

 rate countries, where it is cultivated for 

 the sake of its wholesome fruit. It was 

 brought to Europe in the early part of the 

 sixteenth century, soon after the discovery 

 of America, and is now extensively grown 

 in many parts ; but in this country, owing 

 to the shortness of our summers, its fruit 

 does not always come to perfection. Seve- 

 ral varieties are cultivated, differing only 

 in the size and shape and red or yellow 

 colour of their fruits. Two, however, are 

 considered by some botanists as distinct 

 species, and are named L. cerasiforme and 

 L. pyriforme—the sole distinction between 

 them being that the first-mentioned has a 

 round two-celled fruit i-ather larger than a 

 cherry, and the other a pear-shaped two- 

 celled fruit about an inch and a half long ; 

 while the more common L. esculentum has 

 a large irregularly shaped furrowed fruit, 

 divided into several cells, the irregularity 

 and multiplicity of cells, however, being 

 frequently owing to two or more flowers I 



