LUTHER BURBANK 



recently, through the further blending of heredi- 

 tary strains, excel this markedly in every regard. 

 Indeed, the newest acquisition to the ranks of the 

 Giant amaryllis have advanced surprisingly upon 

 their recent forebears. 



And when the gigantic ten-inch trumpet of the 

 new variety is put beside even the largest flowers 

 of the remote ancestral type, the contrast is so 

 striking as to seem to suggest things of a quite 

 different order. 



STILL WIDER HYBRIDIZATIONS 



Having reached something like the limits of 

 variation attainable through hybridization of the 

 different species of Hippeastrum, I extended the 

 experiments by crossing the new amaryllis hybrids 

 with plants of other allied genera, notably with 

 Sprekelia and Crinum. 



The Sprekelia is represented by a single species 

 indigenous to Mexico and sometimes called the 

 Jacobean lily. It has long, slender, strap-shaped 

 leaves, and a showy crimson flower of an unusual 

 form that suggests a bird in flight. 



I have worked on the Sprekelia more or less 

 for twenty years, raising probably a hundred thou- 

 sand seedlings. But I succeeded only once in 

 hybridizing the plant, with the production of fer- 

 tile offspring. 



The hybrid amaryllis that made union with the 



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