[1] By assigning far too great an importance to this superficial
character (in comparison with others), C. J. Sundevall (_Tentamen_,
pp. 53-63) was induced to array the larks, hoopoes and several other
heterogeneous groups in one "series," to which he applied the name of
_Scutelliplantares_.
LARKHALL, a mining and manufacturing town of Lanarkshire, Scotland, near
the left bank of the Clyde, 1 m. S.E. of Glasgow by the Caledonian
railway. Pop. (1901) 11,879. The highest bridge in Scotland has been
thrown across the river Avon, which flows close by. Brick-making is
carried on at several of the adjoining collieries. Other industries
include bleaching, silk-weaving, fire-clay and enamelling works, and a
sanitary appliances factory. The town has a public hall and baths.
LARKHANA, a town and district of British India, in Sind, Bombay. The
town is on a canal not far from the Indus, and has a station on the
North-Western railway, 281 m. N. by E. of Karachi. It is pleasantly
situated in a fertile locality, and is well laid out with wide streets
and spacious gardens. It is a centre of trade, with manufactures of
cotton, silk, leather, metal-ware and paper. Pop. (1901) 14,543.
The DISTRICT OF LARKHANA, lying along the right bank of the Indus, was
formed out of portions of Sukkur and Karachi districts in 1901, and has
an area of 5091 sq. m.; pop. (1901) 656,083, showing an increase of 10%
in the decade. Its western part is mountainous, but the remainder is a
plain of alluvium watered by canals and well cultivated, being the most
fertile part of Sind. The staple grain-crops are rice, wheat and
millets, which are exported, together with wool, cotton and other
agricultural produce. Cotton cloth, carpets, salt and leather goods are
manufactured, and dyeing is an important industry. The district is
served by the North-Western railway.
LARKSPUR, in botany, the popular name for species of _Delphinium_, a
genus of hardy herbaceous plants belonging to the natural order
Ranunculaceae (q.v.). They are of erect branching habit, with the
flowers in terminal racemes, often of considerable length. Blue is the
predominating colour, but purple, pink, yellow (_D. Zalil_ or
_sulphureum_), scarlet (_D. cardinale_) and white also occur; the "spur"
is produced by the elongation of the upper sepal. The field or rocket
larkspur (_D. Ajacis_), the branching larkspur (_D. consolida_), _D.
cardiopetalum_ and their varieties, are charming annuals; height about
18 in. The spotted larkspur _(D. requienii_) and a few others are
biennials. The perennial larkspurs, however, are the most gorgeous of
the family. There are numerous species of this group, natives of the old
and new worlds, and a great number of varieties, raised chiefly from _D.
exaltatum_, _D. formosum_ and _D. grandiflorum_. Members of this group
vary from 2 ft. to 6 ft. in height.
The larkspurs are of easy cultivation, either in beds or herbaceous
borders; the soil should be deeply dug and manured. The annual varieties
are best sown early in April, where they are intended to flower, and
suitably thinned out as growth is made. The perennial kinds are
increased by the division of existing plants in spring, or by cuttings
taken in spring or autumn and rooted in pots in cold frames. The
varieties cannot be perpetuated with certainty by seed. Seed is the most
popular means, however, of raising larkspurs in the majority of gardens,
and is suitable for all ordinary purposes; it should be sown as soon as
gathered, preferably in rows in nursery beds, and the young plants
transplanted when ready. They should be fit for the borders in the
spring of the following year, and if strong, should be planted in groups
about 3 ft. apart. Delphiniums require exposure to light and air. Given
plenty of space in a rich soil, the plants rarely require to be staked
except in windy localities.
LARNACA, LARNICA or LARNECA (anc. _Citium_, Turk. _Tuzla_), a town of
the island of Cyprus, at the head of a bay on the south coast, 23 m.
S.S.E. from Nicosia. Pop. (1901) 7964. It is the principal port of the
island, exporting barley, wheat, cotton, raisins, oranges, lemons and
gypsum. There is an iron pier 450 ft. long, but vessels anchor in the
bay in from 16 to 70 ft. of water. Larnaca occupies the site of the
ancient _Citium_, but the citadel of the ancient city was used to fill
up the ancient harbour in 1879. The modern and principal residential
part of the town is called Scala. Mycenaean tombs and other antiquities
have been found (see CYPRUS).
LA ROCHE, a small town in the Belgian Ardennes, noticeable for its
antiquity and its picturesque situation. Pop. (1904) 2065. Its name is
derived from its position on a rock commanding the river Ourthe, which
meanders round the little place, and skirts the rock on which are the
interesting ruins of the old castle of the 11th century. This is
supposed to have been the site of a hunting box of Pippin, and certainly
the counts of La Roche held it in fief from his descendants, the
Carolingian rulers. In the 12th century they sold it to the counts of
Luxemburg. In the 16th and 17th centuries the French and Imperialists
frequently fought in its neighbourhood, and at Tenneville, not far
distant, is shown the tomb of an English officer named Barnewall killed
in one of these encounters in 1692. La Roche is famous as a tourist
centre on account of its fine sylvan scenery. Among the local
curiosities is the Diable-Château, a freak of nature, being the apparent
replica of a medieval castle. La Roche is connected by steam tramway
with Melreux, a station on the main line from Marloie to Liége.
LA ROCHEFOUCAULD, the name of an old French family which is derived from
a castle[1] in the province of Angoumois (department of Charente), which
was in its possession in the 11th century. François de La Rochefoucauld
(1494-1517), godson of King Francis I., was made count in 1515. At the
time of the wars of religion the family fought for the Protestant cause.
François (1588-1650) was created duke and peer of France by Louis XIII.
in 1622. His son François was the author of the _Maxims_, and the son of
the latter acquired for his house the estates of La Roche-Guyon and
Liancourt by his marriage with Jeanne Charlotte du Plessis-Liancourt.
Alexandre, duc de La Rochefoucauld (d. 1762), left two daughters, who
married into the Roye branch of the family. Of the numerous branches of
the family the most famous are those of Roucy, Roye, Bayers,
Doudeauville, Randan and Estissac, which all furnished distinguished
statesmen and soldiers.