THE ORCHID REVIEW. 231 
ARE VARIETIES PERMANENT? 
A QUESTION which has been raised on more than one occasion has again 
been asked by a correspondent, namely, whether varieties of Orchids, and 
particularly albinos, are permanent—coming true year after year—or 
whether they revert back again to ordinary forms. In the great majority of 
cases we believe that varieties can be relied upon to keep true under all cir- 
cumstances, as many fine ones keep perfectly constant from year to year, 
and we should be almost as much surprised to find that the contrary were 
the case as we should to find that one species changed into another. Who 
ever heard of the brilliant Odontoglossum Pescatorei Veitchianum reverting 
to an ordinary form? And the same remark applies to Cypripedium Law- 
renceanum Hyeanum, C. callosum Sandere, C. bellatulum album, and 
hundreds of others. Their peculiarities are fixed, and no variations of 
treatment have any effect on them. They may be reduced in size by 
starving them, but not changed into something else, and good culture 
always again restores them to their normal size. It is true that on one 
occasion a flower of Cypripedium Stonei platytanium produced a single 
petal of ordinary C. Stonei, but there is good reason for believing this 
remarkable form to bea sport, or an abnormal condition of the species 
whose peculiarity has become fixed. But whatever subtle influence it was 
which caused the reversion of one petal to the normal condition, it had no 
effect on the remaining ones, and the peculiarity was not repeated at the 
next time of flowering. True albinos of Cattleyas are perfectly constant 
from year to year, though we believe that some very pale forms vary a little 
under certain conditions, sometimes being nearly white, and at others 
decidedly tinted. And there are some which open nearly white, but become 
tinted as they get older. But even these are practically constant in their 
character, though of course they are not albinos. 
In many cases albinism, or the absence of some particular colouring 
matter, extends throughout the plant, though it may not be always apparent 
to the eye. In the case of Cypripedium bellitulum album, C. venustum 
M i Phal is Schilleriana vestalis, and various others, the 
absence of the dark or purplish colouring matter from the leaves affords a 
sure index to what the flowers will be when they expand, though in other 
cases the leaves may not show this peculiarity. 
In certain Odontoglossums it has been observed that the size, number, 
and arrangement of the spots vary somewhat from year to year, which is 
probably due to variations in the health and vigour of the plant, and perhaps 
also to variations in the amount of heat and light. But similar variations 
may sometimes be seen between different flowers on the same inflorescence, 
and in any case the variations are only fluctuations from a certain mean. 
