114 THE ORCHID REVIEW. [May, 1916, 
With respect to Sir Jeremiah Colman’s interesting remarks on Hybrid 
Dendrobiums (page 98), a correspondent in the north suggests that one of 
the reasons why Dendrobiums have declined in popularity is that they are 
not so well adapted for show purposes as the Cattleya group and the ever- 
popular Odontoglossums; they also require more heat, and succeed best in 
a house by themselves. Again, they are less adaptable for general 
decorative purposes, though D. nobile and its hybrids are largely grown, and 
an increase in the range of colour would add to their popularity, especially 
where they can be accommodated in the Cattleya house. The season of 
blooming is also rather short. The difficulty mentioned of crossing the D. 
nobile set with other sections of the genus is rather a drawback, but it 
would be felt more strongly if any scarlet or crimson-flowered species were 
available for hybridisation, for the addition of sach a colour would give 
quite an impetus to their culture. 
This is precisely what has happened in the case of Odontoglossum. 
Less than twenty years ago the number of home-raised seedlings that had 
flowered could be counted on the fingers of one hand, and it was not until 
the Temple Show in 1904 that the first of the “scarlets” appeared and 
made such a sensation. That was the result of crossing the brilliant 
Cochlioda Noetzliana with an Odontoglossum, an event which has 
revolutionised the Cool house, for Odontiodas are now almost the leading 
feature at some of our horticultural meetings, and their number is rapidly 
increasing. 
The introduction of Cochlioda Neetzliana was a far more important 
horticultural event than was at first recognised—it was originally called 
Odontoglossum, and as such received a Botanical Certificate from the 
R.H.S., in. November, 1890—and but for a rather curious circumstance it 
might have been utilised earlier by the hybridist. Respecting this, an 
amusing story may be told. In the early days of Odontoglossum raising 
we were visiting a well-known collection, and on looking at a little batch of 
seedlings, remarked to the raiser, who is, unfortunately, no longer active, 
“Why not try Cochlioda? You might get a batch of scarlet Odonto- 
glossums.” He replied, “ We have tried, and it won’t take, the pollen tubes 
are too short, or something.” We replied, ‘‘ Make it the mother,” when he 
startled us by exclaiming, “It’s got no stigma!” We knew that that 
was impossible, and promised to investigate when a living flower was avail- 
able. And then a curious condition of things was discovered, for, instead 
of the normal stigma of Odontoglossum, there were two stigmas, one at 
each side near the apex of the tube formed by the union of the lip with the 
sides of the column, a character that had been entirely overlooked by 
