LUTHER BURBANK 



known as the Pride of the Congo, Richardia ha- 

 stata. This is a much stronger grower than the 

 other variety and has pale yellowish flowers larger 

 than those of the alho-maculata. I raised many 

 seedlings from this variety on my Sebastopol 

 place, and developed it by selection until it pro- 

 duced very large bulbs. 



Then I hybridized the two species, using our 

 hybridized golden variety of the R. alho-maculata 

 and the developed varieties of R. hastata. The 

 cross was made reciprocally as usual, and here as 

 elsewhere it appeared to make no difference which 

 was the pollenate and which the pistillate parent. 



The hybrids vary considerably as to bulb, plant, 

 and flower — much more so than either parent 

 species when raised from uncrossed seed. And 

 among the hybrids there were some plants that 

 produced enormous bulbs, sometimes eight or ten 

 inches in diameter and weighing from two to six 

 pounds each. The plants that grew from these 

 bulbs were of large size and bore blossoms that 

 were of much brighter yellow than those of either 

 parent. 



This plant was introduced under the name of 

 the Giant Calla, a name subsequently changed to 

 Lemon Giant. 



Subsequently I obtained a number of other 

 species of calla, including those known as R. 



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