594 



THE BOOK OF GARDENING. 



colour variety which a few years ago one would never have 

 thought of. Some of the white forms are the most beautiful and 

 valuable Cattleyas in cultivation. Numerous species not included 

 in the above list would also help to fill up the different seasons 

 •of the year, and many of them are equal in beauty to those 

 already named. There are also the hybrids, both natural and 

 artificial. As these have the intermediate characters of the 



Fig. 375. — Cycnoches chlorochilon. 



species from which they have been derived, so their blossoms are 

 produced at intermediate times, according to the natural flowering 

 seasons of the parent species. The hybrid Cattleyas and Lselias 

 now number some 300, they having increased since 1895 

 something like 80 per cent, and they are likely to continue 

 increasing for many years to come, owing to the fact that 

 hybridisation is gaining favour in almost every collection of 

 Orchids throughout the world. 



