ON THE AMARYLLIS 



Jacobean lily was my new vittalum type, having 

 pale red flowers striped with white. Only a single 

 hybrid of this union bloomed, but from this a 

 number of seedlings were grown. 



The hybrid offspring of these plants of differ- 

 ent genera had long, narrow, strap-shaped leaves 

 much like those of Sprekelia (the pollen parent), 

 but the blossoms were very much larger than those 

 of that plant, and they had very curiously twisted 

 petals, unlike those of either parent. 



As might be expected in the offspring of plants 

 so widely separated, the hybrids were almost in- 

 fertile. As already noted, only a single variety 

 bore blossoms, and although the blossoms were 

 produced almost continuously throughout the 

 summer, there was seldom any seed, and it was 

 with difficulty that I succeeded in raising seven or 

 eight seedlings. 



In a more recent year, however, I succeeded in 

 hybridizing many blossoms of Sprekelia with the 

 pollen of an improved hybrid Hippeastrum, and 

 secured about 800 seedlings which showed the 

 characteristics of the other hybrids obtained by 

 the reciprocal cross of the same species. The sec- 

 ond generation hybrids, and also those of the third 

 generation, showed a strong tendency to revert 

 back to the giant hybrid species of amaryllis, 

 rather than toward natural species. 



[95] 



