BRASSO-CATTLEYA 



BREEDING 



545 



Digbyana x C. Harrisoniana). — B. lattgtei/ensis (B. Dig- 

 byana X C. Schroederse). — B. Laurentiano-glauca (B. 

 Laurontiano X C. glauca). — B. Leemdnnix (B. Dig- 

 byana x C. Dowiana). O.R. 11:57. — B. Manse (B. 

 Digbyana x C. Warneri). — B. Marbnx (B. Digbyana 

 X C. Warscewiczii). — B. nivalis (B. fragrans x C. 

 intermedia). — B. Peetersii (B. glauca x C. Lawrence- 

 ana). — B. Pocahdntas (B. Digbyana x C. Eldorado). 

 — B. Sdnderi (B. glauca X C. Schroederai). — B. 

 simdhaghensis (B. Digbyana x C. Setulleriana). — B. 

 striata (B. fragrans x C. Mossiae). Fls. rose-colored, 

 fragrant. R.H. 1903:276, desc— B. Siisannse. (B. 

 DigbvanaxC. Thayeriana). — B. Thdmlonii (B. Dig- 

 byana x C. Gaskelliana). J.H. 111. 61:001. — B. 

 Vhitchii (B. Digbyana x C. Mossiae). — B. Vilmoriniana 

 (B. LeemanniiB x C. Mossiae). — B. Weilesleyse (B. 

 glauca x C. Mossiae Wageneri). 



Brassavola Digbyana, Lindl., is now considered a 

 Laelia, so the above hybrids, under that conception, 

 might be designated Laelio-Cattleya. 



George V. Nash. 



BRASSO-L.^LIA (compounded of the genera 

 Brassavola and Lselia). Orchidacese. Established to 

 include hybrids between the two genera. 



The following are to be found in the American trade: 



B. Canari (B. Digbyana x L. xanthina). — B. Digby- 

 ano-purpurdla (B. Digbyana x L. purpurata). — B. 

 fladosa (B. nodosa x L. flava). — B. Helen (B. Digby- 

 ana x L. tenebrosa). O.R. 10:169. — B. Jcssopii (B. 

 Digbyana x L.-C. xanthina). — B. Lellieuxii (B. Digby- 

 ana X L. anceps). — B. Rdlfei (B. Digbyana x L. crispa). 

 — B. Thwditesii (B. Digbyana x L. grandiflora). — B. 

 Veilchii (B. Digbyana x L. purpurata). — B. westfieldi- 

 ensis (B. glauca x L. flava). 



Brassavola Digbyana, Lindl., is now considered a 

 Laelia, so the above hybrids, under that disposition, 

 might be designated as hybrid Laelias. 



George V. Nash. 



BRASSO-LiELIA-CATTLEYA. Orchidacex. Atrigen- 

 eric hybrid. B.-L.-C. Fbwleri (C. Schroederae auran- 

 tiaca X Brasso-Laelia Mrs. M. Gratrix). Fls. yellow, 

 tinged, and veined with salmon-rose. G.C. IIL 41: 

 303. Brassavola Digbyana, one of the elements, is now 

 considered a Laelia, and the plant would then belong to 

 Lslio-Cattleya. George V. Nash. 



BRAVOA (Bravo, Mexican botanist). Amaryl- 

 liddcese. A small genus, much resembling in some of its 

 species the tuberose (Polianthes), and hardly distinct 

 from it. 



Stems slender, from small thickened rootstocks: Ivs. 

 mostly basal: infi. a lax spike or raceme; fls. always in 

 pairs, more or less bent or curved; stamens 6, included 

 within the perianth-tube: fr. 3-celled, many-seeded. 

 Native of the mountain and tableland region of Mex. — 

 Five species have been described formerly, but recent 

 explorations have discovered some 5 or 6 additional 

 species. 



\\'hile the flowers are not so showy as the common 

 tuberose, yet the genus should be found in every choice 

 bulb collection. Only one species has been cultivated to 

 any extent, and even this species is not well known. .As 

 the species often grow in the high mountains of Mexico, 

 they ought to be hardy in the southern stretches of the 

 temperate zone. 



geminiflfira, Llav. & Lex. Mexican Twin-Flower. 

 Sts. 1-2 ft. high: bulbs small, 1-1} 2 in- long, the outer 

 scales cut into fine fibers at the top: ba.sal Ivs. linear, 

 erect, 6 hnes or le.ss broad, smooth: fls. in a slender 

 raceme, reddish or orange-colored; lobes minute, 

 rounded. B.M. 4741. — Handsome, and worthy of more 

 attention. 



B. BuUiana, Baker. Basal Ivs. described as lanceolate. 1-1 H in. 

 broad: fls. in 5 or 6 pairs, white. Seemingly too near the little-known 



35 



Polianthes mexicana. Not in cult. — B. sessilifl^ra, B. densifldra, 

 and B. singidifldra, are rare species, only known from herbarium 

 specimens. The latter two, however, should probably be excluded 

 from this group. j_ j^^ -g^^^^ 



BRAYA (Count de Bray, 1765-1831, German 

 botanist). Cruciferse. Small tufted al|)ine or boreal 

 perennial herbs, sometimes grown in alpine gardening. 

 There are a dozen or more species in Eu., Asia and 

 Amer. Plant glabrous or cano-tomentose: Ivs. radical, 

 spatulate or linear, entire or dentate: fls. on scapes 

 that often are naked and sometimes only 1-fld. but 

 mostly bearing racemes or corymbs, white or rose- 

 colored or purple. B. alplna, Sternb. & Hoppe, is the 

 usual species, with white fls. B. pinnatifida, Koch 

 (probably properly Sisymbrium pinnatifidum, DC.), 

 has white-lilac fls. Practically unknown in cult, in N. 

 Amer. 



BRAZIL-NUT: BerlhoUetia. 



BREAD-FROTT: Artocarpus. 



BREAD-NUT: Brosimum Alicastrum. 



BREEDING OF PLANTS. The definite producing 



of kinds of plants adapted to given uses and conditions 

 is known now as plant-breeding. The existing varieties 

 are of course the result of the action of natural tenden- 

 cies and laws, but the producing of them has not been, 

 for the most part, a conscious, or at least not a regu- 

 lated, act on the part of man. The laws of variation 

 and inheritance are now beginning to be understood, 

 and the application of this knowledge is to produce 

 orderly and more or less predictable results. 



In beginning the artificial cultivation of plants, our 

 early ancestors, even with their crude understanding 

 and methods, probably selected seed for planting from 

 the best wild individuals of any plant. The selection of 

 seed from the best individuals has thus been continuing 

 for thousands of years, ever since the dawn of civiliza- 

 tion. While this is a crude method of breeding, if long 

 continued on an extensive scale, it could not, as is now 

 recognized, fail to have results. The greatness of the 

 changes produced is shown by the fact that some of 

 the most exlensively cultivated crops, such as wheat 

 and maize, have been so modified that the wild types 

 from which they sprang cannot now be recognized, 

 although the original wild ancestors probably still exist. 



Breeding did not become established as an art until 

 comparatively recently. The sexuality of plants was 

 not established until it was proved experimentally by 

 Camerarius in 1691; and the first hybrid of which there 

 is record was made in 1719 by Thomas Fairchild, an 

 English gardener, who crossed the carnation with the 

 sweet William. The first exact knowledge of hybridiza- 

 tion dates from about 1761 when Koelreuter began 

 publishing the results of his observations, but even his 

 work had little bearing on practical plant-breeding. 

 The systematic breeding of plants may be said to have 

 begun with the work of Knight and Von Mons about 

 the beginning of the nineteenth century. 



Knight worked mainly in hybridization and in 1806 

 said: "New varieties of every species of fruit will gen- 

 erally be better produced by introducing the farina of 

 one variety of pollen into the blossoms of another than 

 by propagating from a single bud." Von Mons worked 

 mainly in selection and it is interesting to note that 

 his experiments were made primarilj' with pears. He 

 emphasized continuous selection and produced very 

 many valuable varieties. It is probable that a large 

 part of the success of Von Mons' work was due to the 

 fact that pears are normally sterile to their own pollen, 

 requiring cros.s-fertilization, and, therefore, many of 

 his new varieties were probably hybrids. He was not 

 aware of this fact, however, and it made no great differ- 

 ence in the establishment of the principle which has 

 since proved to be so important, 



A most important stimulus to the development of 



