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Lippia (Named in honour of Augustus)

(named in honour of Augustus Lippi, a French physician and traveller in Abyssinia). Including Aloysia and Zapania. ORD. Verbenaceae. A large genus (almost ninety species) of stove or greenhouse, glabrous, pilose, tomentose, pubescent, or hirsute, shrubs or sub-shrubs, rarely herbs, mostly American, a few being found in Africa, and two broadly dispersed over the warmer regions of the globe. Flowers small, solitary, sessile, in the axils of the bracts. Leaves opposite or ternately whorled, rarely alternate, entire, toothed, or lobed, flat or rugose. But few of the species are in cultivation. They require a rich light soil. Cuttings of the young shoots will root readily in sandy soil, in any close, warm frame.

L. citriodora (Citron-scented).* Lemon Plant; Scented Verbena. fl. nearly white, small, forming an unbranched panicle. Summer and autumn. l. in whorls of three; veins on each side of the midrib running parallel to each other. h. 3ft. Chili, 1794. Greenhouse (hardy in the South of England). The leaves of this species emit a delightful fragrance when bruised. SYNS. Aloysia citriodora, Verbena triphylla (B. M. 367).

L. nodiflora (node-flowered). fl. white or purple; heads dense, globose, on axillary peduncles. May to September. l. obovate, oblong, or lanceolate, rough, tapering and entire below the middle, serrate above, 1in. long. h. 6in. to 12in. North America. Half-hardy. SYN. Zapania nodiflora. L. reptans (creeping). fl. white, red; heads ovoid-globose, at length oblong. June. l. spathulate, serrate above, penninerved, 1in. to 1 1/2in. long. h. 1ft. South America, 1847. Greenhouse.