Labichea
(named after M. Labiche, an officer of the French ship "Uranie," who accompanied Freycinet in his voyage round the world). ORD. Leguminosae. A genus of five species of unarmed greenhouse evergreen shrubs or sub-shrubs, natives of Australia. Flowers yellow, in axillary, often few-flowered, racemes; sepals and petals sometimes only four; stamens two. Leaves impinnate, or reduced to the terminal leaflet. Labicheas thrive in a compost of peat and loam. Cuttings of half-ripened shoots will root, during summer, in sand, if placed under a bell glass. The following is the only species now in cultivation.
L. diversifolia (various-leaved). A synonym of L. lanceolata. L. lanceolata (lance-shape-leaved). fl. bright golden-yellow; base of the upper petal stained with red; raceme about six-flowered. April to June. l., leaflets narrow-linear or lanceolate, terminating in a sharp spiny point. h. 6ft. Western Australia, 1840. A compact bushy plant. (B. M. 6751.) SYN. L. diversifolia (under which name it is figured in L. & P. F. G. 52).