lespede'za. 



166 



LEVELLING. 



on the back of the petals. It is very 

 suitable for beds in a geometric flower- 

 garden, or for rockwork, but it re- 

 quires a slight protection during se- 

 vere frosts. 



Leguminous Plants. — Plants that 

 produce their seeds in a pod or le- 

 gume, like the common bean and 

 pea ; some of them have pea-flowers, 

 and others have tassel-like flowers, 

 like those of the Acacias. 



Leiophy'llum. — Another name for 

 Ledum buxifblia. 

 Lemna. — Duckweed. 

 Lemon. — See Ci'trus. 

 Leoni n tis. — Labiates. — Lion's-ear. 

 Shrubby plants, from the Cape of 

 Good Hope, with scarlet or orange 

 flowers, which are produced in whorls 

 round the joints of the stems. The 

 flowers are produced in autumn, and 

 the plants require a light rich soil. 



Leo'ntodon — Composites. — L. 

 taraxacum is the common Dandelion. 



Lkonu x rus. — Labiatce. — Mother- 

 wort. Annual and biennial plants, 

 with reddish or purplish flowers, na- 

 tives of Europe, quite hardy in any 

 common soil. 



Leopard's Bane. —See Do'ronicum. 

 Leptosi'phon. — Polemoniacece. 

 —Pretty Californian annuals, nearly 

 allied to Gilia, which will bear a 

 moderate degree of cold better than 

 too much heat. For their culture, 

 see Annuals. 



Leptospe'rmum. — Myrtacece. — 

 Very pretty Australian half-hardy 

 shrubs, with white flowers, which are 

 generally kept in a greenhouse in 

 England, but which may be grown in 

 the open air, with a slight protection 

 during winter. They require a sandy 

 loam mixed with peat in nearly equal 

 quantities : and they are generally 

 propagated by cuttings, as the plants 

 which are raised from seed are a long 

 time before they flower. 



Lespede za. — LeguminoscB.--Vez- 

 flowered perennial plants, nearly al- 



lied to the French Honeysuckle : 

 which only require to be planted in 

 any common garden soil, in the open 

 borders. 



Lesse'rtia. — Leguminbsee. — L. 

 pulchra is a pretty little half-shrubby 

 plant, with purplish-red pea-flowers, 

 which are produced in May. It is a 

 native of the Cape of Good Hope, and 

 it is generally kept in a greenhouse. 



Leuco'jum. — Amaryllidacece. — ■ 

 The Snow-flake. Beautiful bulbous- 

 rooted plants, natives of Europe, as 

 hardy as the common Snow-drop, and 

 requiring the same treatment, except 

 that they do not succeed quite so well 

 under the drip of trees. 



Leucopo^gon. — EpacridefB.— Aus- 

 tralian half-hardy shrubs, with spikes 

 of feathery white flowers. They are 

 very abundant in the temperate re- 

 gions of Australia, and only require a 

 slight protection in England during 

 winter. 



Leuco'thoe. — Ericacece — One of 

 the new genera into which Professor 

 Don has divided the genus Erica. 



Levelling is an operation which is 

 required on a large scale in laying out 

 gardens, and on a smaller scale in 

 digging uneven ground. In either 

 case, care should be taken to keep 

 the best soil on the surface, so that 

 when a hill is to be lowered in order 

 to fill up a hollow, the first operation 

 is to take off the surface of both, and 

 reduce the ground to a uniform in- 

 clination or level, by removing tho 

 subsoil; and replacing the surface soil 

 afterwards evenly over the whole. In 

 practice it is seldom, if ever, desirable 

 to reduce a surface to a perfect level, 

 because in that case the rain which 

 fell on it would not readily run off. 

 An inclination should generally be 

 given from one side to the other ; or, 

 when the plot is a square, from the 

 centre to all the sides ; and this incli- 

 nation may be so gentle as to render it 

 quite impossible to be detected by the 



