THE ORCHID REVIEW. 13 
LALIA DIGBYANA AS A PARENT. 
SoME time ago there was a legend that Lelia Digbyana was a complete 
failure as a seed-parent. This was partially exploded when a fine capsul, 
was produced in the collection of W. S. M’Millan, Esq., of Maghuel 
Liverpool, as recorded at page 238 of our seventh volume. The matter has 
now been carried a step further. A note in the Gardeners’ Chronicle for 
November 24th (page 370), under the heading ‘‘ Orchids at Harefield Hall,” 
records ;— 
‘In a small hothouse, entered from the corridor, Mr. Ashworth pointed 
out his greatest triumph in hybridising, viz., seedlings of a cross between 
Lelia Digbyana (seed parent) and Cattleya Warscewicsii. Several of the 
small, green, spherical bodies representing the plantsin the earliest stage 
were to be seen, and as every care is taken to guard against mistakes, Mr. 
Ashworth is as certain as he can be that he has accomplished what others 
have failed to do, viz., raised a hybrid with Lelia Digbyana as the seed- 
bearing parent.” 
A week later Mr. J. M. Black, gardener to R. G. Thwaites, Esq., of 
Streatham, recorded another example (page 404). He writes :— 
“At Mr. Thwaites’ suggestion, and after so many recorded failures, with 
little hope of success, I fertilized two flowers of Lzlia Digbyana last year— 
one in July with pollen of Cattleya Warscewiczii, and one in August with 
Cattleya aurea. Both crosses were successful, and the capsules duly 
ripened, in each case taking just one year in the process. On examination, 
there were clearly two kinds of seed in each capsule; the seed next the 
column had a brownish tinge and was sound, as it proved when sown ; 
while that next the flower stalk was white and fluffy, and did not germinate. 
About one-third of the seed in each capsule had the power of germinating. 
The hypothesis is that, owing to the abnormal distance between the stigma 
and the ovary in Lelia Digbyana, the pollen tubes become exhausted in the 
conducting tissue, coming into contact with and fertilising those ovules 
only which are near the entrance into the ovary. The sound seed 
germinated freely in both cases, and, with reductions incidental to trans- 
planting and insect gowrmandise, we are now left with a considerable 
number of each cross, the largest plants of which are making their third 
leaf and sending out roots, and we are assured of carrying them over the 
dead season. An abiding obstacle to the easy raising of Lelia Digbyana 
hybrids, even when it is used as the pollen parent, is the ripening of the 
seed near the end of the growing season.” 
We have not heard whether any of Mr. M’Millan’s seed germinated, 
but it is recorded as having been sown in three different collections. 
