HYBRIDISING AND RAISING ORCHID SEEDLINGS. xhi. 
years after the seed was sown, and in the case of P. Xx Quirinus 
a single seedling appeared nine months after the seed was sown, 
and then three or four others just three years later. This, however, 
is quite exceptional, and is only mentioned to show that a cross 
need not necessarily be written off as a failure because the seedlings 
do not appear almost immediately. After sowing the seeds one naturally 
watches their progress through a good lens, but some of the seeds sink 
into cavities in the compost or get covered over, and are lost sight of 
until the point of a tiny leaf emerges from the compost. It is useless to sow 
the seeds of these and other terrestrial Orchids on blocks of wood. When 
the young seedlings are large enough to handle they may be pricked off, as 
already described. The capsules generally take from nine to fifteen months 
to ripen, and the seedlings will generally begin to flower when about three 
years old—in exceptional cases a little earlier—but more during the next 
two years. A good deal depends on the way they are grown, but some 
mature much more quickly than others. 
PHRAGMOPEDILUM capsules ripen much more quickly than those of the 
preceding genus, and are unique among cultivated Orchids. in being three- 
celled. The seedlings, however, require similar treatment and reach the 
flowering stage at about the same age. 
CALANTHE capsules ripen in about three to five months, and some of the 
seedlings begin to flower when two to three years old. The deciduous 
species of the C. vestita group are the most popular subjects, but a few of 
the evergreen species have also been crossed, and in one case the deciduous 
and evergreen sections have been united. Calanthe has also been crossed 
with Phaius grandifolius and its allies, yielding the generic hybrids known 
as Phaiocalanthe. Calantheseedlings require careful handling when small, 
but are easily grown and succeed under ordinary treatment. 
Pualus is a near ally of Calanthe, and the seedlings are equally easy to 
raise, and also flower comparatively early. The hybrids between P. simulans 
and the species of the P. grandifolius group are very beautiful and 
floriferous, and a similar remark applies to those between the latter and P. 
Humblotii. P. x Cooksoni, the first of the series, flowered within the short 
period of two years and a quarter from the time seed was sown, and the 
seedlings generally are easily grown and flower at a very early period, 
They require warm house treatment, and are highly decorative. The yellow 
P. maculatus has also yielded several beautiful hybrids when combined with 
the species of the P. grandifolius group. 
SPATHOGLOTTIS is another genus of terrestrial Orchids which is very 
easily manipulated, and the seedlings flower very quickly. S. x kewensis 
flowered within eighteen months after the seed was sown, and other 
