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.