8 THE WOODLANDS ORCHIDS 



for no orchid is so variable. In fact, elegans is merely a title 

 of convenience, with no scientific value. It dwells — soon we 

 must say it dwelt — in the closest association with Laelia 

 purpurata, Cattleya intermedia, and Cattleya guttata Leo- 

 poldii ; by the intermingling of these three it was assuredly 

 created. Mr. Rolfe has satisfied himself that the strain of 

 Laelia purpurata is always present. By alliance with Catt. 

 Leopoldii the dark forms were produced ; by alliance with 

 Catt. intermedia the white. Since that misty era, of course, 

 cross -fertilisation has continued without ceasing, and the 

 combinations are endless. 



Evidently this suggestion is reasonable, but if an un- 

 scientific person may venture to say so, it does not appear to 

 be sufficient. Among six flowers of L. elegans five will have 

 sepals and petals more or less rosy, perhaps only a shade, 

 perhaps a tint so deep that it approaches crimson, like Blen- 

 heimensis or Turneri. Could one of the three parents 

 named supply this colour.? Two of them, indeed, are 

 often rosy ; in some rare instances the hue of L. purpurata 

 may be classed as deep rose. But these are such notable 

 exceptions that they would rather suggest a fourth parent, a 

 red Cattleya or Laelia, which has affected not elegans alone 

 but purpurata and intermedia also. Nothing of the sort 

 exists now, I believe, in the island of Santa Catarina. But 

 we are contemplating aeons of time, and changes innumerable 

 may have occurred. The mainland is but a few miles away ; 

 once Santa Catarina was attached to it. And there, a short 

 distance to the north, lives Laelia pumila, which might supply 

 the rosy tinge. 



Several artificial hybrids of Catt. guttata Leopoldii have 

 been raised. By alliance with Catt. Dowiana it produces 

 Catt, Chamberlainiana ; with Catt. superba, Feuillata ; with 

 Catt. Hardyana, Fowlerii ; with Catt. Loddigesii, Gandii ; 

 with Catt. Mendelii, Harrisii ; with LaeUo-Cattleya Marion, 



