Lippia
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| Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture |
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Lippia (Dr. Auguste Lippi, French traveler, 1678- 1703). Including Aloysia. Verbenaceae. Herbs and shrubs, grown for the ornamental bloom, and one as a ground-cover; the lemon verbena of florists is one of them. Mostly shrubby, with opposite or 3-whorled (rarely alternate) lvs., which are entire, dentate or lobed: fls. small and often lantana-like, in heads or spikes, mostly white, rose or purplish; corolla 4-lobed, oblique or 2- lipped. the tube cylindrical and straight or curved, the lobes broad and usually retuse; calyx 2-4-toothed or -cleft, inclosing the dry fr. which becomes 2 separate nutlets: stamens 4, didynamous, attached at the middle of the corolla-tube, included or very nearly so; ovary 2-celled, each cell 1-ovuled. — Species about 125, nearly all in Trop. Amer., but 2 or 3 African and 1 or 2 widely dispersed in warm countries. The genus is botanically nearer Lantana than Verbena, although the common forms of all three genera are very unlike horticulturally. Some species of Lippia have their spikes crowded into dense heads, like Lantana. The drupe in Lippia is dry, but in Lantana it is often juicy, and in Lantana the calyx is more or less truncate and the corolla not bilabiate. The one well-known cultivated lippia is lemon verbena (L. citriodora), an old-fashioned favorite, with delightfully fragrant foliage, a sprig of which was often included in mixed bouquets. It is a low-growing tender shrub, with long narrow pointed entire leaves, which are usually borne in threes. In summer, it bears minute flowers in a pyramidal panicle, composed of many- flowered spikes, which appear in groups of three at decreasing intervals along the main axis. In southern California it attains a large size.—Culture by William Scott: A florist should always have a few lemon verbenas. Save a dozen plants in spring, shift them on as required, and in the summer plunge the pots outside. At the approach of frost bring them into the greenhouse, stand them under the lightest and coolest bench, and give them water enough merely to keep the wood from shriveling. In early February shake the plants out of the pots, shorten the unripened and weak wood, repot in fresh soil, using 4-inch pots, and start the plants into fresh growth in a temperature of 55°. In a few weeks they will be covered with new growths suitable for cuttings. Cuttings root readily in about three weeks. The sand of the cutting-bench should be a little warmer than the air. Water the sand twice a day, and keep it well soaked. Never allow the cuttings to wilt from sunshine or dryness. Transfer the cuttings when rooted to 2-inch pots, and in April shift to 3-inch pots, plunging them in a mild hotbed, where by the middle of May, with one pinching, they will have become fine, bushy plants. They need frequent syringing to prevent attacks of red-spider. In California, Arizona, Mexico, Australia, the plant known as L. repens (properly L. canescens) is now an important ground-cover or lawn plant. The many thousands of acres thus covered are said all to have come from plants secured in a twelve-ounce box from the Botanic Garden in Rome by F. Franceschi, of Santa Barbara, in 1898.—Culture by Franceschi: It thrives in any soil, no matter how poor, rapidly covering the ground with a very dense matting. It will smother all weeds in a short time, and the more trodden upon the better it grows. It requires much less water than other lawn plants, and saves the trouble of mowing. It will stand severe heat and many degrees of cold, and can easily be established on sloping grounds. It will never become a pest difficult to eradicate, having no underground runners. Have the ground well worked and pulverized, leveled and rolled, if possible. No manure is recommended. It seeds very sparingly or not at all. The best and quickest way to propagate it is by-plan ting small sods (of 2 square inches) at a distance of 1, 2, or more feet apart, as one may prefer. The closer planted, the sooner the ground will be carpeted. Each small sod contains many joints, and from each joint runners and roots soon appear that will branch in every direction and will anchor it in the ground, rooting again as they run. Press and firm the sods in the ground, and give sufficient water to start them to grow. Occasional rolling will be of advantage. Frequent walking over it will have the same effect. If the tiny lilac flowers (much sought by the bees) are not desired, they can easily be removed with an ordinary lawn-mower. During the dry season, water must be given, with a lawn sprinkler or otherwise, at intervals as the local conditions suggest.
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References
- Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963
