Juty, 1913.] THE ORCHID REVIEW. 2IP 
LALIA PURPURATA AS A PARENT. 
THE appearance of a hybrid between Lelia purpurata and the remarkable: 
Cattleya citrina, under the name of Leliocattleya Freak (as recorded at 
. page 221) calls attention to the possibilities and limitations of the former as. 
a parent. No other species has given such a series of magnificent garden 
hybrids as has this fine Lelia, which the late Mr. B. S. Williams once- 
remarked had often been designated the “‘ King of Orchids,” on account of 
its merits as a free-growing and showy exhibition plant. Its qualities. 
remain, and it to-day the species is less popular than formerly the eclipse is 
largely due to the brilliancy of its own children. Look at the hybrids. 
comprised under the names of Leliocattleya Canhamiana, Aphrodite, 
Dominiana, and Fascinator, to mention only a few of those obtained by 
crossing L. purpurata with the Cattleyas of the labiata group. And the 
list might be extended, for it has been crossed with every member of the 
labiata group, and the changes are now being rung with the secondary 
hybrids, which promise some further additions. 
In the Orchid Stud-Book we find no fewer than forty-seven hybrids for 
which L. purpurata is partly responsible, namely, twenty-four Cattleyas, 
thirteen Leelias, five Lzeliocattleyas, two Epidendrums, and one Brasso- 
cattleya, with Brassavola Digbyana and Sophronitis grandiflora, and the 
list has since been extended, chiefly among secondary hybrids. 
The series commenced with Lzliocattleya’ Dominiana, which flowered: 
for the first time in 1878, though at that time the Lzlia purpurata parentage 
was not known. In fact the second parent was said to be “‘some Laelia, 
probably elegans,” which reminds us that the plant so long known as Lelia 
elegans is itself a natural hybrid between L. purpurata and Cattleya 
Leopoldii, though it was long supposed to be a wild species; in fact it 
originally appeared and was described under the name of Cattleya elegans. 
before the existence of Lelia purpurata was known. It is now called 
Lezliocattleya elegans. The other natural hybrid of L. purpurata is L.-c. 
Schilleriana, which was originally described under the name of Lelia 
Schilleriana, and afterwards confused for a long time with L. elegans. The 
point was ultimately cleared up, and Since then the parentage of both: 
natural hybrids has been proved experimentally. 
The hybrids of L. purpurata with the long-bulbed Cattleyas are less. 
showy, chiefly due to the smaller flowers and less brilliant colours of the 
latter, and partly also to the fact that the entire lip of the one does not 
combine well with the three-lobed lip of the other. L.-c. elegans and. 
Schilleriana, however, belong to this group, and were formerly extremely 
popular. Crosses with other Lzlias are not to be’ compared with the 
Lzliocattleyas in point of beauty, though with the L. cinnabarina group L. 
