364 



THE GAKDENEB'S ASSISTANT. 



Propagated by division in spring or summer, or by 

 seeds. 



L. pycnostachya. Bright rose-purple, 3 feet. North America. 



L. scariosa. Rich dark-purple, 2 feet. North America. 



L. spicata. Purple feathery spikes, 3 feet. North America. 



Linaria. — A pretty genus, to which our native Toadflax 

 belongs, and including also some pretty annuals. All the 

 perennials are easily grown in a sunny position, and may 

 be propagated by division as well as seeds, 



L. alpina. Lilac to dark-purple, 4 inches. Alps. 



L. anticaria. White, purple spot, trailer. Spain. 



L. Cavanillisii (antirrhinoides). Purple, 6 to 9 inches. Europe. 



L. daimatica. Yellow, 1 to 2 feet. Dalmatia. 



L. hepaticcefolia. Purple, trailer. Corsica. 



L. repens, var. alba. White, 1 foot. Europe (Britain). 



L. triomithophora. Violet, 6 inches. Portugal. 



Lindelophia spcctabilis. — A Himalayan plant related 

 to the Borageworts, with blue or purple flowers borne in 

 drooping clusters. An ornamental plant for well-drained 

 sandy soil in the border. Increased by seeds or root 

 division. 



Linnaea boreal is. — A choice little native evergreen 

 trailer, with ascending branches, clothed with small ovate 

 leaves and ending in a twin-flowered peduncle; flowers 

 bell-shaped, ^-inch long, pink, fragrant. Should be on 

 every rockery. It prefers a cool, rather shaded position. 



Linum (Flax). — Plants of elegant habit, with pretty 

 flowers, blue, yellow, or white. The soil they prefer is a 

 light rich one, and a rather dry situation exposed to full 

 sunshine. Propagated by seeds or division. 



L. alpinum. Blue, 1 foot. Europe. 



L.fiavum. Golden-yellow, 1 foot. South Europe. 



L. perenne. Blue, 18 inches. Northern temperate regions. 



Lithospermum. — A genus of the Borage family, with 

 blue, purple, <»r yellow flowers. Piefers a sunny spot in 

 the rock garden. L. prostratum lias dark-green lanceo- 

 late hairy leaves, and Gentian-blue flowers, borne on lax 

 panicles in May and June, and again in late autumn. 

 Cuttings of young shoots, about '1 inches long, should be 

 taken off with a heel in summer and inserted in a sandy 

 soil, kept close in a frame, and shaded till rooted; then 

 they can be kept in pots till tit to plant out in spring. 

 A beautiful plant for the rockery, and, unlike the other 

 species, prefers a moist soil. 



L. gramin\folium. Blue, 4 to 6 inches. Italy. 



L. prostratum. Deep Gentian-hlue, prostrate. Europe. 



L. purpureo-coeruleum. Dark-purple, l foot. Europe (Britain). 



Lobelia. — The perennial Lobelias are important plants 

 for the border or flower-garden, or by the side of ponds. 

 They flower from May to September, and when in masses 

 have a brilliant effect. In winter they should be covered 

 with ashes, or lifted in October and stored in boxes or 

 cool frames in sandy soil, to be planted out again in April. 

 The ground should be well prepared by digging and 

 enriched with rotted manure. They dislike drought, 

 moisture of a bog or a pond-margin exactly suiting them. 

 Some of the new varieties of L. fulgens are very effective. 

 Increased by division or seeds. 



L. cardinalis. Crimson-scarlet, l£ foot. North America. 



L. fulgens. Bright-scarlet, 3 feet." Mexico. 



L. syphilitica. Brilliant-blue, 2 feet. North America. 



Lupinus (Lupin). — Stately plants, suitable for group- 

 ing in the herbaceous border. Most of the perennials 

 are North American. The flowers are mostly blue or 

 purple, rarely yellow or white. L. polyphyllus, the oldest 

 and best garden species, is represented by various forms, 

 including blue, white, and white and blue, and varying 



in height from 3 to 6 feet. One known as " Somerset " 

 has yellow flowers. They thrive in ordinary garden soil. 

 Propagation by seeds, or division in the stronger -growing 



species. 



L. arbor eus. Yel- 

 low, 5 feet. Califor- 

 nia. 



L.nootkatensis. Dark- 

 blue, 1£ foot. North 

 America. 



L. polyphyllus (fig. 

 444). Blue, 3 feet, 

 California. 



Fig. 444.— Lupinus polyphyllus 



Lychnis. — A 



genus of perennials. 

 Some of the tall 

 growers, such as 

 L. chalcedonica, are 

 among the hand- 

 somest of summer- 

 flowering border 

 plants, and are of 

 the easiest culture; while such dwarf -growers as L. alpina 

 and L. Lagascaz are suitable for the rock-work, where 

 they grow and flower freely with charming effect. In- 

 creased by seeds, divi- 

 sion, and cuttings. 



L. alpina. Bright-rose, 



2 to 3 inches. Northern 

 regions. 



L. chalcedonica (fig. 445). 

 Brilliant scarlet, 3 feet. 

 Russia. 



L. Coronaria. Red, 18 

 inches. South Europe. 



L. Haageana. Vermilion- 

 scarlet, 1 foot. Japan. 



L. Lagascce. Rich rose, 



3 inches. Spain. 

 L. Viscaria splendens 



fl. pi. Rose, 1£ foot. Europe 

 (Britain). 



Lycoris. — There are 



five species of this Ner- 

 ine-like genus, but only 

 one of them need be 

 included here, viz. L. srpiiamigera (fig. 446), which may be 

 grown under the same conditions as are recommended 

 for Amaryllis Belladonna, to which it bears some resem- 

 blance in bulb, foliage, and size of flower. The flowers 

 are developed in July on a scape a yard or so high ; they 

 are fragrant and coloured pink, with a tinge of gray- 

 blue. Introduced from China in 1860, and distributed 

 under the name of Amaryllis Hallii. 



Lythrum (Loosestrife). — A handsome British weed, 

 worthy of a place in a bog or by the water-side, where it 

 will look after itself and send up annually tall, four- angled, 

 leafy -branched stems, bearing in summer elegant cymes 

 of red or purple flowers. 



Macrotomia. — Borageworts, with harsh, hairy leaves, 

 somewhat rare and difficult to cultivate. The oriental 

 M. echioides {Amelia echioides), 9 inches high, is suitable 

 for the rockery or border, and is of easy culture. Its 

 flowers, produced in spring and again in autumn, are 

 yellow, with black, velvety-looking, evanescent spots. An 

 interesting and pretty plant, and should be in every col- 

 lection. Increased by seeds. 



Maianthemum bifolium {M. Convallaria). — A Lily- 

 of-the-Valley-like plant, which produces racemes of white 

 fragrant graceful flowers in early summer. It grows well 



Fig. 445.— Lyclmis chalcedonies 



