THE ORCHID REVIEW. 



A HYBRIDIST'S COLLECTION. 



i of hybridists and others has recently been called to Mendel's 

 * Law of Inheritance," and as Orchid hybrids are now very numerous, the 

 question has naturally been asked how far the facts observed among them 

 are explainable on Mendelian principles. A preliminary paper on 

 "Mendel's 'Law' applied to Orchid Hybrids" has been contributed to 

 the Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society by Captain C. C. Hurst, 

 F.L.S., Burbage, Hinckley, and the continuation will be awaited with 

 interest by hybridists generally. Captain Hurst has also instituted a series 

 of experiments in order to test the question further, and as we have 

 recently had the pleasure of inspecting his collection, a few notes on the 

 subject will be acceptable. 



The wide range of variation between hybrid Orchids of the second 

 generation has long been known, and we may recall a remarkable series of 

 varieties of Paphiopedilum X Hera from Captain Hurst's collection, of 

 which an account was given at page 74 of the present volume. This 

 hybrid is descended from a cross between P. Boxallii and P. X Leeanum 

 (P. insigne X Spicerianum), and as the species of this affinity are easily 

 raised and cultivated, the group was selected for a series of experiments, 

 which is likely to yield very interesting results, the more so as these 

 winter-flowering plants are among the most useful and beautiful in the 

 genus. 



These later experiments are being conducted systematically and with 

 praiseworthy precision, the primary object being to find out how far the 

 results are comparable with those obtained by Mendel in the case of peas. 

 Orchids, as subjects for a series of Mendelian experiments, possess, besides 

 others mentioned by Captain Hurst in his R. H. S. paper, two great 

 advantages, first, in being rarely self-fertilized, and, second, in having 

 pollen of such a nature that the risk of contamination by stray pollen 

 grains, so common in many other plants, is eliminated. On the other 

 hand, there is the corresponding disadvantage that a considerable period 

 elapses before they reach the flowering stage. Orchidists, at all events, 

 will view Captain Hurst's selection with satisfaction, for it may give them 

 some data to work upon, and at the same time yield a number of 

 valuable horticultural acquisitions. 



The species primarily selected for experiment are P. insigne, P. 

 Spicerianum, P. villosum, and P. Boxallii, with their derivative hybrids, 

 P. X Leeanum, P. X nitens, P. X Lathamianum, and P. X Calypso, 

 together with a few other hybrids to which special points of interest attach, 

 as P. x Grovesianum (P. X Leeanum X Lathamianum), and P. X Pluto 

 (P. Boxallii X politum). The results at present take the form of a nice 



