Ledum

LEDUM LATIFOLIUM (_syn L. groenlandicum_).--Wild Rosemary, or Labrador

Tea. This is a small shrub, reaching to about 3 feet in height,

indigenous to swampy ground in Canada, Greenland, and over a large area

of the colder parts of America. Leaves oval or oblong, and plentifully

produced all over the plant. Flowers pure white, or slightly tinted with

pink, produced in terminal corymbs, and usually at their best in April.

A perfectly hardy, neat-growing, and abundantly-flowered shrub, but one

that, somehow, has gone greatly out of favour in this country. This

plant has been sub-divided into several varieties, that are, perhaps,

distinct enough to render them worthy of attention. They are L.

latifolium globosum, with white flowers, borne in globose heads, on the

short, twiggy, and dark-foliaged branches. L. latifolium angustifolia

has narrower leaves than those of the species, while L. latifolium

intermedium is of neat growth and bears pretty, showy flowers.



L. PALUSTRE.--Marsh Ledum. This is a common European species, growing

from 2 feet to 3 feet high, with much smaller leaves than the former,

and small pinky-white flowers produced in summer. It is an interesting

and pretty plant. The Ledums succeed best in cool, damp, peaty soil.