THE CANNA Al^TO CALLA 45 



at the base, and in the original form was 

 insignificant. 



Among these almost numberless seedlings ap- 

 peared, now and then, a golden variety, but this 

 proved difficult to fix, although very handsome 

 and attractive. 



Presently I secured another variety of calla 

 known as the Pride of the Congo, Richardia ha- 

 stata. This is a much stronger grower than the 

 other variety and has pale yellowish flowers 

 larger than those of the alho-maculata. Many 

 seedlings were raised from this variety on my 

 Sebastopol farm, and developed by selection 

 until it produced very large bulbs. 



Then the two species were crossed, using our 

 own hybridized golden variety of the R. albo' 

 maculata and the highly developed varieties of 

 R. hastata. The cross was made reciprocally as 

 usual, and here as elsewhere it appeared to make 

 no difference which was the staminate and which 

 the pistillate parent. 



The hybrids vary considerably as to bulb, 

 plant, and flower — much more so than either 

 parent species when raised from an uncrossed 

 seed. And among the hybrids there were some 

 plants that produced enormous bulbs, sometimes 

 eight or ten inches in diameter and weighing 

 from two to six pounds each. The plants that 



