junc-|uly, 1916.] 



THE ORCHID WORLD. 



173 



ODONTOGLOSSUM PESCATOREI. 



TO anyone unacquainted with the prac- 

 tical results of the hybridist it may 

 appear strange that Odontoglossum 

 Pescatorei is ever utilised when there is an 

 apparently much finer flower in O. crispum. 

 It is wise to state apparently, for O. crispum 

 has had such a long run of popularity that 

 the mere suggestion of doubting its right to 

 the highest position of honour m the genus 

 seems a little absurd. One presumes that any 

 special qualifications possessed by Pescatorei 

 would have made it famous contemporarily 

 with crispum, but it has fallen to the lot of 

 the hybridist to discover the various means 

 by which Pescatorei has proved itself of 

 remarkable value in the making of many of 

 our present-day popular hybrids. While some 

 hybridists are of opinion that crispum and 

 Pescatorei deserve equal recognition for the 

 part they have played in recent years, there 

 are others who assert that crispum comes first, 

 with Pescatorei a close rival, and with this 

 latter opinion most readers will probably 

 agree. 



Before discussing the artificially raised 

 hybrids, mention must be made of O. excel- 

 lens (Pescatorei x triumphans), one of the 

 natural hybrids for which high prices were 

 paid; in the year 1886 Knox's variety of 



excellens realised ^165, and many other 

 instances could be given of the value then set 

 upon examples of this hybrid. O. elegantius 

 (Pescatorei x Lindleyanum) is another rare 

 natural hybrid, and, like excellens, was 

 accounte'd meritorious by reason of its bright 

 yellow colour. Although excellens and 

 elegantius derive this yellow from triumphans 

 and Lindleyanum respectively, the brightness 

 and clearness of it, as seen in the above 

 hybrids, is entirely due to Pescatorei. 



In almost all hybrids containing crispum 

 and Pescatorei in their parentage it has been 

 noticed that the greater the proportion of 

 Pescatorei so much the whiter and clearer is 

 the background of the flower, consequently 

 the blotches and spots stand out in a decisive 

 manner. On the other hand, crispum 

 encourages the formation of a rose-tinted 

 ground, which is, nevertheless, quite as much 

 appreciated by the majority of amateurs, and 

 rightly so. Both sections are fast becoming 

 quite distinct. 



In May, 1900, M. Vuylsteke showed O. 

 Rolfeas (Harryanum x Pescatorei), which at 

 once opened the eyes of the hybridist to the 

 immense future possibilities of increasing the 

 interest in Odontoglossums, no matter 

 whether scientific or commercial ; as events 

 have since shown, these expectations have 

 been fully realised. 



VOL. VI. 



23 



