HYBRIDISING AND RAISING ORCHID SEEDLINGS. xli. 



years after the seed was sown, and in the case of P. X Quirinus 

 a single seedhng appeared nine months after the seed was sown, 

 and then three or four others just three years later. This, however, 

 is quite exceptional, and is only mentioned to show that a cross 

 need not necessarily be written off as a failure because the seedlings 

 do not appear almost immediately. After sowing the seeds one naturally 

 watches their progress through a good lens, but some of the seeds sink 

 into cavities in the compost or get covered over, and are lost sight of 

 until the point of a tiny leaf emerges from the compost. It is useless to sow 

 the seeds of these and other terrestrial Orchids on blocks of wood. When 

 the young seedlings are large enough to handle they may be pricked off, as 

 already described. The capsules generally take from nine to fifteen months 

 to ripen, and the seedlings will generally begin to flower when about three 

 years old — in exceptional cases a little earlier — but more during the next 

 two years. A good deal depends on the way they are grown, but some 

 mature much more quickly than others. 



Phragmopedilum capsules ripen much more quickly than those of the 

 preceding genus, and are unique among cultivated Orchids, in being three- 

 celled. The seedlings, however, require similar treatment and reach the 

 flowering stage at about the same age. 



Calanthe capsules ripen in about three to five months, and some of the 

 seedlings begin to flower when two to three years old. The deciduous 

 species of the C. vestita group are the most popular subjects, but a few of 

 the evergreen species have also been crossed, and in one case the deciduous 

 and evergreen sections have been united. Calanthe has also been crossed 

 with Phaius grandifolius and its allies, yielding the generic hybrids known 

 as Phaiocalanthe. Calanthe seedlings require careful handling when small, 

 but are easily grown and succeed under ordinary treatment. 



Phaius is a near ally of Calanthe, and the seedlings are equally easy to 

 raise, and also flower comparatively early. The hybrids between P. simulans 

 and the species of the P. grandifolius group are very beautiful and 

 floriferous, and a similar remark applies to those between the latter and P. 

 Humblotii. P. X Cooksoni, the first of the series, flowered within the short 

 period of two years and a quarter from the time seed was sown, and the 

 seedlings generally are easily grown and flower at a very early period. 

 They require warm house treatment, and are highly decorative. The yellow 

 P. maculatus has also yielded several beautiful hybrids when combined with 

 the species of the P. grandifolius group. 



Spathoglottis is another genus of terrestrial Orchids which is very 

 easily manipulated, and the seedlings flower very quickly. S. X kewensis 

 flowered within eighteen months after the seed was sown, and other 



