98 THE ORCHID REVIEW. [ APRIL, 1914 
of multiple origin that will give plenty of trouble to students of nomencla- — 
ture in the future. 
A correspondent calls attention to the large number of hybrids of 
unrecorded parentage that are now being exhibited, and some of them 
certificated, and asks how they are to be dealt with in the records, for in 
course of time some of them will appear as parents and it will not then be 
possible to ignore them, even though they may be omitted now. The cals 
is not an easy one, but we are inclined to think that some of the difficulties © 
will disappear if the attempt be made to overcome them. Some of these 
plants are stray seedlings, and will in time be identified with others of the 
same batch, whose parents are known. In other cases the record has been 
lost, but in all probability the: parentage will be proved by subsequent : 
crosses, in which case it will be possible to fit them into their proper places. 
There would then be no need to ignore them. At the worst they could be 
referred to the hybrids they most resemble, as has already been done 1n 4 
good many cases. Something of this kind has to be. done with natural ; 
hybrids, though the problem is somewhat simplified by the limited numbet i 
of species which grow together, and by the fact that the importations 1 . 
which they appear can generally be ascertained. In both it is a question i 
of tracing the parentage by the characters presented by the hybrids. It is 5 
here that the difficulty of dealing with complex hybrids is most felt, for if ’ 
the presence of certain species can be traced there is always the complication — 
that similar results may be obtained by different methods of crossing; and : 
the wide range of variation seen in batches of complex hybrids out of the — 
; fee 
jain ae eine Seu Tee 
ay Samer ee ee es 
i 
same ,sged-pod is:enough to’ shake one’s confidence in this method ie 4 
analysis. Still, no other is possible, and there is no need to ignore P — 
because it is not an infallible guide in all cases. 
In this connection it may be mentioned that five remarkable cases of 
variation among Odontioda seedlings from the same batch, raised by _ 
Messrs. Charlesworth & Co., are described on another page, and that we 
have at last a white Odontioda,—at all events so far as the ground colour 1s 
concerned,—namely O. Latona var. Pearl, which is figured at page 105- It 
recalls the case of Odontioda Blushing-Bride, which appeared with M. Ch. 
Vuylsteke, though in that there is a distinct trace. of pink in the Lowe 
And there are cases of reversion towards the original Cochlioda Noetzlian@ 
among forms of Odontioda Chantecleer. Other surprises may be expected 
in the future. 
An article on Mendelism and the Plant Breeder appears in a recent 
issue of The Field, which contains advice that Orchidists may care to know 
