232 THE ORCHID REVIEW. 
THE HYBRIDIST. 
EPILAZLIA X RADICO-PURPURATA. 
THIS very interesting and beautiful generic hybrid has just flowered with 
Messrs. James Veitch and Sons, by whom it was exhibited at the Royal 
Horticultural Society's meeting on July 27th, gaining a First-class 
Certificate. It was obtained by Mr. Seden by crossing Lelia purpurata 
with the pollen of Epidendrum radicans, and the seed was sown in 
September, 1892, so that the plant has reached the flowering stage ina 
little under five years. The combination of characters is very curious, as 
the plant has entirely the habit of the pollen parent, though dwarfed to (at 
present) 15 inches high, with an inflorescence of three flowers, which have 
also the general shape and adnate column of the Epidendrum parent, but 
they are enlarged to three inches in diameter. The sepals and petals are of 
that light flame-colour known as Indian yellow, and the lip is nearly entire 
and broadly ovate, with a bright-yellow, three-keeled disc, and a very broad 
reddish-purple margin. The influence of the mother plant is seen in the 
dwarfed habit, the nearly entire lip with broad purple margin, and in the 
modified colour. The plant appears to have a vigorous constitution, and 
will probably prove a great horticultural acquisition. 
THE DEGENERATION OF CATTLEYAS. 
It is a well-known fact that many Orchids which grow and flower luxuriantly 
for some time after importation afterwards gradually fall away, becoming 
smaller by degrees, ultimately dying outright. The cause of this degenera- 
tion has long been a puzzle to Orchid growers, and various theories have 
been put forward to account for it, and various remedies tried, though only 
with partial success. Starting from the standpoint that these plants are 
grown for their flowers, and that flowering is an exhaustive process, Messrs. 
Alex. Hébert and G. Truffaut have been conducting a series of experiments, 
by chemical analysis, with a view of discovering the cause of this degenera- 
tion, and a possible remedy (Comptes Rendus, June 8th, p. 1311). The species 
experimented with was the old Cattleya labiata, which they point out is an 
epiphyte with monophyllous pseudobulbs, producing every autumn an 
inflorescence of several flowers, yet is grown in a mixture of polypodium 
fibre and sphagnum moss, containing very little nutriment. This degenera- 
tion is not due to physical causes, because we reproduce in our houses the 
natural conditions under which the plant grows, but probably to defective 
alimentation. ; 
