ORCHID HYBRIDS 109 



CHAPTER XXI 

 ORCHID HYBRIDS 



IT is impossible to enumerate the immense number of 

 home-raised hybrids in the scope of this book. It must 

 therefore suffice to name some of the principal genera 

 which have been crossed, and a few of the best hybrids, 

 from the garden point of view. 



Too much cannot be said for the absorbing interest 

 of raising hybrid Orchids, which is referred to at length 

 on p. 67. 



Brassavola Digbyana has been one of the most satis- 

 factory parents, crossing readily with Cattleya and Laslia, and 

 imparting to the hybrids its large flowers and fringed lip. 

 B. glauca has also been useful. Brasso-Cattleya Digbyano- 

 Mossia, " Westonbirt Variety," is illustrated in Plate V. 



Calanthes have been wonderfully improved, so far as 

 the deciduous, winter-flowering kinds are concerned, by 

 intercrossing, commencing with C. Veitchii (rosea x vestita) 

 and now including all shades from pure white to blood- 

 red. 



Cattleya, Laelia, Sophronitis, and Brassavola have pro- 

 duced by intercrossing numerous showy garden plants, 

 some of them, as for example C. Iris (C. bicolor x C. Dowiana) 

 and Lcelio-Cattleya callistoglossa (C. Warscewiczii x L. pur- 

 purata), exhibiting great variation in the colour of their 

 beautiful flowers. 



Cymbidium has been enriched by the hybridist, the 



