THE ORCHID REVIEW. 329 
VANDA x MOOREI. 
Ir is well known that Vanda Kimballiana and V. coerulea grow together 
in Upper Burmah, and now a most interesting plant has appeared in 
the establishment of Mr. J. W. Moore, Eldon Place Nursery, Bradford, 
which so clearly combines the characters of the two as to leave no 
doubt of its being a natural hybrid between them. It came in an 
importation of the latter, from which it was at once seen to differ, 
and now it has flowered, and received an Award of Merit from the 
Royal Horticultural Society on October 12th last. The leaves are 
rather fleshy, but twice as broad as in V. Kimballiana and nearly flat, 
ree 6 to 8 inches long by 5 to 6 lines broad. The scape is 
1 feet long, and only four-flowered at present—the plant being weak 
ni? clearly undeveloped. The sepals and petals are lilac, and most 
like V. Kimballiana in shape, the front lobe of the lip dull purple, 
obcordately bilobed, and much broader than in V. coerulea, and the 
spur 8 lines long, somewhat curved and cylindrical. In other respects 
the flower is fairly intermediate. It is certainly a very interesting plant, 
and, judging by the character of its parents, will develop into a very 
handsome plant. So promising an acquisition should not be neglected 
by our hybridists, who, I have little doubt, will be able to increase the 
stock by crossing together the two species in question. 
R. A. ROLFE. 
DO ORCHIDS DEGENERATE? 
A coop deal of attention has recently been paid to the old but important 
question as to whether Orchids degenerate under cultivation, and in 
connection with some remarks made by M. Georges Grignan, in the report 
of the Congrés Horticole de la Société Nationale d’ Horticulture de France, 
the Gardeners’ Chronicle has initiated a discussion on the subject (Sept. 18th, 
p- 200). Premising that plants, like men, must terminate their existence at 
some time or other, whether in their native habitats or under cultivation, it 
is doubtful, it remarks, whether a huge mass of Cattleya freshly imported 
does not last as long as a single specimen in the Orchid grower’s hands, if it 
be properly treated, as it would in its native habitat. But in its native home, 
when the feebleness of old age comes on, some of the stronger pieces on its 
outer circumference establish themselves as centres, and when the main 
plant collapses they start anew as fresh plants. This is analagous to what 
is called degeneracy under cultivation, and one method of preventing the 
loss of the plants would be to imitate nature, and start with fresh young 
