130 THE ORCHID REVIEW. [May, 1912. 
recorded at page 154 under the name of Odontoglossum mirum var. His 
Majesty. 
A good many Odontoglossums of unrecorded parentage have been 
certificated of late, and it is a pity that more of them cannot be fitted into 
their proper place. There is not the necessary time for this at an ordinary 
committee meeting, so that when a certificate is given the name under 
which the plant is exhibited is generally adopted, unless, indeed, some 
member notices the mistake and is able to rectify it at once. But, 
fortunately, such names can be amended later, should the necessity for it 
arise, and it will be seen from a note at page 158 that the Manchester 
Orchid Society has adopted the name of Odontoglossum promerens for the 
hybrid between O. crispum and eximium, in preference to O. Orpheus and O. 
Delhi, in accordance with the notes at pp. 65, 66 of our March issue. The 
latter names can, of course, stand as varietal names, and we fancy that 
other varieties of O. promerens will appear when the process of fitting 
hybrids of unrecorded parentage into their proper places is carried a little 
urther. 
A remarkable Odontoglossum appeared at the last meeting of the 
R.H.S., with a spike so tall that it had to be stood on the floor to enable 
members to get a good look at it—over six feet we believe was the official 
measurement. And its name was nearly as long as the spike—six words, 
to be precise. And this was only the specific name. In course of time 
varietal names will require to be added—for we know how prone hybrid . 
Odontoglossums are to vary—and we tremble for the result. But we would 
ask in all seriousness, Is this sort of thing really necessary? We have 
a code of Rules of Horticultural Nomenclature, drawn up by a body in 
which the R.H.S. was officially represented, and we have the advice of the 
Council to its Committees to adopt the said code in carrying out the 
Society’s work. Again, in answer to the question, “Should the specific 
name of a hybrid be expressed as a single word, or may it contain more 
words?” We have the Society’s own reply—we are going to set it up in 
capital letters—“ ‘THESE SPECIFIC NAMES SHOULD CONSIST OF A SINGLE 
WORD.” In the case under discussion we believe a Cultural Commendation 
was given to the plant—not to the name—and we wonder how the fact will 
be recorded in the Society’s Journal. We intend to adopt the Council’s 
advice in the matter. 
In the above remarks we are not alluding to varietal names, respecting 
which the code of rules states: ‘“‘ Names of varieties should be expressed 
whenever possible in a single word; it is, however, permissible to employ 
