LS ee OO 
FEBRUARY, 1913-] THE ORCHID REVIEW. 71 
As is well known, the ovules of’ Orchids do not develop. far unless pol- 
lination has occurred. in most of the species here reported the pollen tubes 
are found growing among the ovules before the prophases of the reduction 
division in the megaspore mother cell, in one or two species they are not 
present before the embryo sacs reach the 2- or 4-nucleate stage. In recipro- 
cal crosses between Phaius grandifolius and Bletia Shepherdii it was found 
that in both cases the pollen tubes develop in great numbers and grow down 
the ovarial cavity, in which ovules develop and produce embryo-sacs in 
smaller numbers, but in the same manner as after normal pollination. ‘In 
no case, however, was fertilisation or an embryo seen resulting from crosses 
between these two species. Thus the stimulus necessary to the develop- 
ment of ovules with embryo-sacs may be furnished by foreign pollen incap- 
able of effecting fertilisation. 
In all the species in which fertilisation was observed it is of the usual 
type; one of the two male nuclei fuses with the egg nucleus, while the other 
fuses with the two polars. Also in all the species examined the endosperm 
nucleus disorganises without dividing, thus accounting for the elimination 
of endosperm from the Orchid seed. 
ORCHID NOTES AND NEWS. 
Two meetings of the Royal Horticultural Society will be held at the 
Royal Horticultural Hall, Westminster, during February, on the 4th and 
18th, when the Orchid Committee will meet at the usual hour, 12 o’clock 
noon. The following meeting will be held on March 4th. 
The Manchester and North of England Orchid Society will hold 
meetings at the Coal Exchange, Manchester, on February 6th and 2oth. 
The Committee meets at noon, and the exhibits are open to inspection 
from I to 4 p.m. The following meeting is fixed for March 6th. 
We learn that the Monton Grange collection of Orchids, formed by 
G. H. Peace, Esq., is being dispersed. The collection is well known in 
the Manchester district, and we believe contains many choice varieties. A 
notice appears in our Advertisement columns. 
CaTTLEYA ABEKENIZ.—M. Gust. H. Miiller Abeken, Lange Voorhout, 
Den Haag, informs us that a seedling of exceptional beauty has flowered in 
his collection. It is a cross. between Cattleya Rothschildiana and C. 
Dowiana Rosita. It is most like a fine C. Rothschildiana in shape, but has 
yellow sepals and petals, and the lip is intermediate in character, with a 
rose-coloured margin. He cannot trace any record of this cross, and wishes ~ 
tt to be recorded under the name of Cattleya Abekenia. C. Rothschildiana 
is a hybrid from C. Gaskelliana and C. Dowiana. 
