/>00 On the Production of a Hybrid Amaryllis. 



tage * The fact is interesting, because, either when self-im- 

 pregnated, or impregnated by the pollen of other species, A. 

 Johnsoni is a free seeder. I have raised seedlings from it by 

 its own pollen, and have a dozen seedlings from A. vittata 

 impregnated by it, which will be three fourths vittata and 

 one fourth Reginae; and Mr. Herbert has seedlings from 

 it by the impregnation of other Amaryllides. It remains to 

 be seen whether its own pure seedlings will establish their 

 claim to be considered as species, by strictly adhering to its 

 type, or whether, in the course of a few generations, the in- 

 fluence of the male parent, A. Reginae, now so strongly shewn, 

 will wear out, and A. vittata re-appear amongst them; or 

 whether, according to Mr. Ker's notion, as stated by him in 

 the Botanical Register^ some will « revert to the single like- 

 ness of either parent, or assume new appearances in endless 

 vicissitude." 



My opinion upon the subject leans to the notion that 

 no truly hybrid plant is capable of producing fertile seeds, 

 and, consequently, that where a supposed hybrid actually 

 propagates, as in the present instance, it may be inferred 

 that its parents were not originally distinct species, but 

 are varieties rendered permanent by the long continued 

 influence of dissimilar soils and climates. Extraordinary 

 changes of form, and great diversities, of colour in the co- 

 rollas of flowers are daily produced in our gardens by culti- 

 vation, even unaided by differences of temperature. Is it 



* See note by the Secretary at the end of this communication, 

 f Observations on the Rhododendron hybridum, in the Botanical Register, 

 Vol. iii. page 195. 



