ORCHIDS 



On the Laws of Plant Inheritance. 



standing, however, that we ha\'e those facts so clearly 

 brought before us in the above paper, we fail to see 

 how "Mendel's Law" can be applied to hybrid Orchids 

 generally. And for this reason : we have obtained hybrids 

 true from seed, or in other words h\'brids that have 

 reproduced themselves from being fertilised with their 

 own pollen. We have also found that many of the 

 secondary h}brids, which have been inbred, or in other 

 words, fertilised with one of either -of the original 

 parents, instead of reverting to the parent of which it 

 contains three parts, have become far more distinct than 

 either of the primar)- hybrids. This has been the case 

 in several instances that have come under our notice. 



In all h\-brids, primar}- and secondar\', we have found 

 there has been considerable variation ; it would be a 

 difficult matter indeed to obtain two plants identically 

 the same. Extremes are far more frec]uent : pure ^^'hite 

 and exceedingh- dark \-ariations such as were found by 

 Mr. Norman Cookson when he obtained Calanthe Sibyl, 

 a pure white, and Calanthe Rub}-, probably the darkest 

 Calanthe in cultivation, from the same seed-pod. We 

 cannot therefore discern how, or in what wa}', Mendel's 

 Law can be applied ^\■here such extremes as these are 

 apparent, and especially when these extremes retain their 

 permanent characters by reproducing themselves from 

 seed. 



We find that in some of the primary crosses (for 

 example one of the Faiyicanitvi section of' hybrid Cypri- 

 ]Dediums that many successful hybridists have been experi- 

 menting with for 3-ears, in the endea\our to intercross 

 these hybrids, and thereby obtain a secondar}' h\'brid 

 that may develop more of the characteristics of the' well 

 nigh extinct C Faincanuui), it is a difficult matter indeed 

 to get intercrosses, or to procure seed-pods, when these 

 hybrids have been fertilised with their own pollen ; and 

 even where we have succeeded in getting seed-vessels, 

 when they have become ripened they have contained^ 

 on examination, unfertile seeds, from which no results 

 have ^ been obtained. We believe this to be the only 

 practical test that has been extensively tried with 

 Orchids which may be strictly applied to Mendel's Law 

 of Inheritance. 



