THE MOST USEFUL ORCHIDS 73 



considerably, and one of the finest forms is named C. v. aureum. 

 This has flowers in which the purple colouring has been almost 

 obliterated, and the yellow shade highly developed and toned with 

 pale brown. 



Best Hybrids 



If the reader will remember that there are about eight 

 hundred hybrid Cypripediums, then some idea of the difficulty 

 encountered in making a small selection will be appreciated. 

 Further, tastes differ so much that it is hardly possible the 

 selection will find general favour. The first selection made con- 

 sisted of no fewer than eighty hybrids, or about ten per cent, of 

 the whole. A further reduction brought the number down to 

 five and twenty, and though all of these are not what a modern 

 raiser and Cypripedium specialist would consider first class, they 

 are all good growers and flower well under fair treatment ; in 

 other words, they are good garden plants. In dealing with these 

 hybrids some consideration must be given to the needs of the 

 dominant parent ; thus if C. bellatulum is one parent then a 

 modification of the treatment accorded that species must be 

 afforded. In every case the hybrids in the following selection 

 have been raised a number of times, and in different establishments, 

 and therefore in some instances particularly fine varieties of the 

 parent species have been used for breeding purposes. This at 

 once suggests the possibility of a wide difference in the progeny, 

 and so it comes about that while an ordinarily good form of a 

 hybrid may be purchased for a few shillings, an abnormally fine 

 one may cost as many pounds sterling. 



Twenty-five of the finest Cypripedium hybrids selected for 

 their beauty of form and colour, according to the latest decree of 

 Orchid fashion and with some regard for their rarity, could only 

 be obtained by the expenditure of a small fortune. The catalogue 



