Leucothoe
(the name of a sea-goddess in the Greek mythology). ORD. Ericaceae. A genus containing about eight species of handsome hardy shrubs, natives of North America and Japan. Flowers white, disposed in terminal and axillary paniculate racemes. Leaves alternate, petiolate, oblong or lanceolate, serrulate, persistent or deciduous, penninerved. Leucothoes require a peaty soil, or one composed of peat and leaf mould. They are amongst the most desirable of hardy ericaceous shrubs. Propagated by seeds, which should be covered very lightly; by layers; and by divisions of established plants, in autumn or winter. Leucothoes, like many other shrubs of a similar character, do not grow very fast when young, or before being well established. L. acuminata (acuminate). fl. white, borne in great profusion; corolla cylindrically ovate, pedicellate, drooping; racemes axillary, very short, corymbose, nearly naked. June. l. ovate-lanceolate, gradually narrowed to the top, acuminated, quite entire or unequally serrated, glabrous, shining, reticulately veined, leathery. h. 2ft. to 3ft. North America, 1765. SYN. Andromeda acuminata (under which name it is figured in S. E. B. 89). L. axillaris (axil-flowering).* fl. white; corolla ovate-cylindrical; racemes axillary, spicate, sessile, beset with scaly bracts. May. l. oblong or oval, acuminated, covered with scattered glandular hairs on the under surface. Young branches clothed with powdery down. h. 2ft. to 3ft. North America, 1765. L. Catesbaei (Catesby's). fl. white, exhaling the unpleasant odour of Chestnut blossoms; sepals ovate-oblong, not overlapping in the flower. May. l. ovate-lanceolate to lanceolate, and tapering into a long and slender acumination, serrulate throughout, conspicuously petioled. h. 2ft. to 4ft. North America. SYNS. Andromeda Catesbaei (B. M. 1955) and A. axillaris (B. M. 2357).
L. Davisiae (Mrs. Davis').* fl. white, recurved, pendulous; racemes nearly sessile, many-flowered, erect, forming close terminal panicles. l. oblong, obtuse at both ends, obscurely serrulate, bright green. h. 3ft. to 5ft. California, 1853. (B. M. 6247.) L. racemosa (racemose).* fl. white; racemes or spikes mostly solitary, erect or ascending; sepals lanceolate-ovate, very acute. May and June. l. oblong or oval-lanceolate, acute, serrulate, somewhat pubescent when young, and on the midrib beneath. h. 4ft. to 10ft. North America. (W. D. B. 36, under name of Andromeda spicata.) L. recurva (recurved). fl. white; racemes spreading or recurved; sepals ovate. June. l. more acuminate than in L. racemosa. North America. This species is dwarfer and more straggling than L. racemosa. SYN. Andromeda recurva.