THE ORCHID REVIEW. 4t 
DENDROBIUMS FROM BURY. 
A serIEs of beautiful Dendrobium flowers has been sent from the collection of 
O. O. Wrigley, Esq., Bury, to show the kinds now in bloom. They 
include D. crassinode, D. Findlayanum, the handsome natural hybrid D. 
crassinodi-Wardianum (also known as D. x melanopthalmum), seven 
forms of D. nobile, and a very pretty seedling from the same whose history 
is not stated, but which is apparently D. x Ainsworthii roseum. Among 
the forms of D. nobile are several mentioned in the account given in our 
last volume (pp. 147-150), together with one we do not remember to have 
met with before, called D. n. Rajah. It is much like D. n. albiflorum 
(supra, II., pp. 113, 115, fig. 12), but instead of the segments being 
pure white they are lightly flushed with delicate pink, giving a very 
pretty effect. The sepals and petals are slightly shorter and broader, but 
the lip convolute in the same way. 
A seedling Cypripedium, believed to be from C. x cenanthum and a 
form of C. X Harrisianum—possibly Dauthieri—is also enclosed. _ It-is 
evidently a form of C. x Creon, but less richly coloured, and at present 
smaller, though possibly not yet fully developed. 
A HYBRIDIST’S NOTES. 
VITALITY OF POLLEN. 
Ir is currently believed that Orchid pollen retains its vitality for a long 
time after removal from the flower, but few actual experiments seem to be 
on record. 
With Lelias and Cattleyas I have had four pods of good seed from 
pollen removed from the flowers two weeks and more previously—namely, 
L. Perrinii X C. labiata, plus L.-c. elegans alba, 14 days; C. Gaskelliana x 
intermedia, 17 days; C. Percivaliana x velutina, 18 days; L. purpurata x 
C. intermedia, 30 days; L. grandis X C. intermedia, 33 days. At the same 
time I have failed in thirty trials with pollen 15 to 30 days old; in twenty- 
seven trials at 30 to 60 days; and fourteen trials 60 to 160 days. 
Will not some of our expert hybridists give as many instances as possible 
of good pods from pollen used three weeks or more after removal from the 
flower, and let us know if any particular condition—as to dryness, darkness, 
and ilation, or the rever seem to be of importance in keeping the 
pollen alive. I have generally used paper packets, in a small tin box, and 
found no advantage in enclosing the pollen in nearly air-tight gelatine 
capsules till ready to use it. 
PERIOD OF RIPENING OF SEED. 
I note a great difference in the time required to ripen seed-pods, accord- 
ing to the species of pollen made use of. It seems to tend towards a mean 
