314 THE ORCHID REVIEW. 
awards. The plant, or part of it, afterwards passed into the collection of Baron 
Schréder, and the following very interesting account of its progress appeared 
in 1889 (Rolfe in Gard. Chron., 1889, v., p. 490):—‘‘A fine raceme of 
this very beautiful variety, kindly sent for preservation by Baron Schréder, 
of The Dell, Egham, Surrey, through Messrs. Veitch & Sons, well illus- 
trates the improvement wrought by skilfulcultivation in many Orchids. The 
raceme bears twenty flowers, which measure 4 inches from tip to tip of 
the petals, and 43 inches from tip of dorsal sepal to the tip of either of the 
lateral ones. Such massive and well developed flowers reflect great credit 
on the skill of the gardener in whose charge the plant is. There is said to 
be a certain amount of variation in the number of spots from year to year.” 
Our figure represents a flower from Baron Schréder’s plant, the photograph 
having been taken at a subsequent period, and kindly forwarded to us by 
Mr. G. I’Anson, Bush Hill Park. 
LALIA DIGBYANA AS A SEED-PARENT. 
ON page 13 of the present volume some remarks are made upon Lelia Digby- 
ana as a seed-parent, which would lead one to suppose that it is a difficult 
matter to raise seedlings of it. Having two good capsules of it fertilized by 
Cattleya Warscewiczii and C. Mossie, which, in June, both showed signs 
of ripening by cracking, the seeds were sown upon several hanging pans in 
which other Orchids were growing. We can now see seeds of both crosses 
germinating and forming their first and second leaves. As a seed-parent 
we have not found Lelia Digbyana as prolific as when used as the pollen 
parent. I think the above may interest your readers. 
JAMES GODFREY, 
Ludlow. (Gardener to Dr. C. B. Cranstoun). 
[A very interesting confirmation of the facts previously recorded, which 
was that the raising of seedlings of Lelia Digbyana is not so difficult as 
sometimes supposed. It is interesting to mention in this connection that 
when Cattleyas and Leelias are fertilized with the pollen of Sophronitis 
grandiflora the fertile seeds are mostly found at the apex of the capsule, and 
have a brownish tinge, while those at the other end are white and fluffy, and 
contain no embryos. Divide such a capsule longitudinally when ripe, and 
a sharp dividing line may sometimes be seen, beyond which the pollen tubes 
have not reached, and consequently the ovules have not been fertilized. 
The fertile portion may be removed and sown, neglecting the remainder. 
This is just what Mr. Black observed in the case of Lelia Digbyana, and in 
each case the peculiarity may be traced to the relative length of the column 
and ovary of one parent as compared with that of the pollen tubes of the 
other.—Ep.]. 
