HISTORY OF ORCHID HYBRIDISATION 



latter appears to have been the first French hybrid, and is now considered 

 to be a form of the natural hybrid C. X Isabella. 



The next hybridist which we find evidence of was Mr. Eraser, of 

 Derncleugh, near Aberdeen, who raised Masdevallia X Fraseri. It was 

 derived from M. ignea ? and M. coccinea <? , and flowered in 1882. 



In 1882 also Cypripedium X Dauthieri was described, from the 

 establishment of Messrs. Van Hoiitte, of Ghent. Its origin was a mystery, 

 but it was soon identified as a form of C. X Harrisianum, and, curiously 

 enough, it has since been traced as a stray seedling from Messrs. Veitch's 

 establishment (See Orch. Rev., i8gg, p. 71). 



In the following year we find Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart., included in 

 the ranks of the hybridists, he having raised the brilliant Calanthe X 

 porphyrea from C. vestita and C. labrosa. 



In 1884 the flowering is recorded of Cypripedium X Laforcadei, raised 

 by M. Bauer, of Paris, but it is a form of the earlier C. X Ashburtonae. 



In 1885 the first hybrid Thunia appeared, and, curiously enough, the 

 same hybrid was raised by two different operators — first bv Mr. Toll, of 

 Manchester, and shortly afterwards by Mr. Seden, in both cases from T. 

 Marshalliana 5 and T. Bensonae ^ . Plants were exhibited simul- 

 taneously at one of the Royal Botanical Society's Shows, in 1885, the 

 former as T. X Wrigleyana, the latter as T. X . Veitchiana. Under the 

 latter name it was eventually described. 



In 1886, a very striking novelty appeared, and was described b}' 

 Reichenbach under the name of Laslia X Batemaniana. It was raised by 

 Mr. Seden from Sophronitis grandiflora crossed with the pollen of Cattleva 

 intermedia, and flowered in August, 1886, when a little over five years old. 

 Reichenbach called it " a lovely gem, a miniature Laslia" and added: — 

 " This novelty offers a wide field for considerations of nomenclature. Are 

 all hybrids between what we call genera to get intermediate names ? . . . 

 The effeci; of mixing a Sophronitis and a Cattleya is a Laslia ; hence I 

 must reduce Sophronitis to Laelia, except S. violacea, with a remodelled 

 character." It was dedicated to the veteran Orchidist, James Bateman, 

 Esq., of Worthing, whose name had been known in connection with 

 Orchids for upwards of half a century. The plant is now called Sophro- 

 cattleya X Batemaniana. 



Another generic hybrid might have been added to the list, for Messrs. 

 Veitch flowered a hybrid whose origin had been lost, and Reichenbach 

 could only suggest Zygopetalum maxillare as one parent, and called it 

 Zygopetalum X leopardinum. A year later the flowering of a hybrid from 

 Colax jugosus afforded a clue, and the present plant was transferred to 

 Zygocolax. 



The first artificial hybrid Phalaenopsis flowered in 1886, and possesses a 



