SOME RESULTS OF THE HYBRIDISATION OF ORCHIDS. 14o 



whom^ as Mr. Batemau has oft repeated, all hybrid productions were 

 au abomination. The first hybrid Cattleya that flowered was named 

 C. hi/brida, a plant now lost, but which was soon followed by 

 the flowering of G. x Brahantice. The first hybrid Cypripedium to 

 flower was C. x Harrisianum, which justly commemorates the name 

 of Mr. Harris who first pointed out to Dominy the feasibility of 

 muling orchids. Among other noteworthy acquisitions raised at 

 Exeter were LceUa x exoniensis, Dominy's chef d'ceuvre from a cultivator's 

 point of view, and Oalanthe x Veitchll, long since recognised as one 

 of the handsomest and most useful winter-flowering orchids, and in 

 recent times a potent agent in the parentage of many new and 

 beautiful Calantlies that have been raised artificially. Mention must 

 also be made of Cattlei/a x Dominiana, Lcelia x Pihheriana, a true 

 La^lia, and Phcdocalanthe irrorata, a generic hybrid which has a 

 special interest of its own in its scientific bearing and in its being 

 the forerunner of similar crosses by Seden and others already 

 noticed.* Among Dominy's later acquisitions which flowered for the 

 first time at Chelsea is Oi/pripediuni x Doniinianum, the first hybrid 

 Selenipedium ever raised; the very distinct C. x veKlUarvum, the 

 forerunner of a group of handsome Cypripedes in which the rare 

 and beautiful C. Fairieanum has participated in the parentage, Lcelia 

 x caloglossa and L. x Veitchiana. For fifteen years, as the editor 

 of the Orchid Review justly observes, his record was unbroken, 

 but at length others attracted by his success entered the field. 

 Before recording the acquisitions of operators not connected with 

 the Veitchian establishment we v?ill pass in review the most 

 important additions to the list of hybrids made by Seden, Dominy's 

 successor. 



The first that flowered was Cypripedium Sftdenii. This was a 

 remarkable cross in many respects; it was in fact raised from two 

 crosses, G. Schlimii x G. longifolium and the same two vice versa. 

 It will be observed that in this case one of the parents, G. longi- 

 folium, is much more robust in habit and growth than the other 

 parent, G. Schlimii. No perceptible difference was observed between 

 the plants raised from the two separate crosses; they agree iu habit, 

 foliage, structure and colour of flower, in fact in every particular. 



* See p. 93. 



