422 GENERAL REVIEW. 



they were sown. Some of these hybrid plants which now de- 

 light us with their glowing colours and grateful fragrance have 

 been watched and tended for a dozen years or more before the 

 anxious cultivator has been rewarded with the sight of their 

 first blossoms, and then many of them have been found worth- 

 less, or nearly so ; for it must not be supposed that every hy- 

 brid obtained has been so valuable, either from a floral or 

 scientific point of view, as those we here enumerate. 



One remarkable fact in connection with these hybrids is their 

 intermediate nature, this being so obvious in many cases that 

 any Orchid - grower could easily guess the names of their 

 parents directly he saw the hybrids in flower. In MrSeden's 

 Lady's Slipper (Cypripedium Sedan) we have one of the best- 

 authenticated instances of perfect reciprocity of fertilisation. 

 This hybrid was produced by crossing C. Schlimmii with 

 pollen from C. longifolium (C. Reichenbachianum, Ho.rt. Bull); 

 and another batch of seedlings in which this cross was reversed, 

 C. longifolium having been made the seed-parent, gave plants 

 precisely similar in every way. From a scientific point of view 

 the crosses effected not only between distinct species, but also 

 between supposed genera, have taught us much. Laelias and 

 Cattleyas cross with each other as freely as species of either 

 genus, and the same remark holds good with Phaius and the 

 deciduous section of Calanthe. This, in our opinion, fully 

 bears out the views of Professor Reichenbach, who does not 

 consider the numerical arrangement of the pollen-masses a 

 character sufficient to separate Cattleyas from Laelias. The 

 cross-fertilisation or hybridisation of Orchids by man's agency 

 is as yet in its infancy, while insects have unconsciously car- 

 ried pollen from flower to flower for ages past, thus adding 

 much to the perplexity of modern botanists, and to the delight 

 of all lovers of the beautiful. In performing experiments for 

 all intelligent purposes, Orchids and Asclepiads, which have 

 wax-like pollen, are peculiarly well adapted, since the danger of 

 accidental or self- fertilisation is here reduced to a minimum. 



HYBRID ORCHIDS. 



Cattleyas. 

 HYBRID. PARENTS. 



C. Exoniensis, C. Mossiae, x Lselia purpurata. 



C. Dominiana, C. amethystina x C. maxima. 



C. Dominiana alba, C. amethystina x C. maxima. 



C. Dominiana lutea, C. amethystina x C. maxima. 



C. hybrida, C. granulosa x C. Harrisonii. 



C. Sidneana,'. C. crispa x C. granulosa. 



C. Brabantise, C. Loddigesii x C. Aclandke. 



