248 



THE ORCHID WORLD. 



[October, 1916. 



CATTLEYA HARDYANA. 



EVER since the year 1883, when this 

 glorious Cattleya first flowered in the 

 collection of Mr. George Hardy, of 

 Pickering Lodge, Timperley, Cheshire, many 

 large sums of money have been expended in 

 procuring further examples. In the early 

 days, collectors searched the districts in 

 Colombia where its two parents, Warsce- 

 wiczii and aurea, grow together, for C. 

 Hardyana, as the majority of our readers 

 know, was at one time only procurable from 

 importations. On the rare occasions when 

 collectors came across this hybrid in flower, 

 it was possible to label the plants before being 

 packed, but in the ordinary sequence of events 

 this rarity could not be detected until the 

 plants produced their flower under subsequent 

 cultivation. It is true that a few experts who 

 had gained considerable experience in the 

 handling of large quantities of imported 

 Warscewiczii and aurea were able by care- 

 fully examining the grain on the under side 

 of the leaf to pick out some of the plants of 

 Hardyana that were included in large importa- 

 tions, but even these did not all prove of 

 high commercial value, for in common with 

 the majority of species, there are good and 

 bad varieties, although even an inferior 

 Hardyana possesses some points of beauty 

 that appeal to the amateur, if not to the 

 specialist. 



Since the year 1885, when Mr. Hardy 

 exhibited the original plant at the Royal 

 Horticultural Society, and obtained a First- 

 class Certificate, no less than thirty varieties 

 of C. Hardyana have been certificated by this 

 Society alone, which may be taken as sure 

 evidence of its extreme beauty and general 

 popularity. And more than this, there is 

 good reason to believe that with the fine 

 parents now available we shall in the near 

 future see even still finer Hardyanas. 



With the intention of reproducing the 

 attractive golden-yellow sepals and petals of 

 C. aurea, hybridists have utilised this species 

 to a very large extent, although it cannot be 

 said that the results have been entirely up to 

 expectations, for in the majority of cases the 



yellow is overcome by the stronger purple 

 tints as seen in C. Fabia (aurea x labiata), to 

 give but one familiar example. As an artist 

 selects suitable pigments to paint his picture, 

 so the hybridist attempts to produce his ideal 

 flower by selecting the broad sepals and 

 petals of one flower, the brilliantly coloured 

 sepals and petals of another, and perhaps the 

 attractive labellum of even a third. Yet in 

 how many instances does Nature allow the 

 hybridist to have his own way ? Very few 

 indeed. Consider the golden-yellow sepals 

 and petals of C. aurea, and the number of 

 times they have been used by hybridists ; in 

 almost every result this fine colour has been 

 overpowered by the purple of the other 

 parent. In the large majority of the varieties 

 of Hardyana the sepals and petals are more 

 or less mottled with the rose-purple pigment 

 of C. Warscewiczii. Only when a white- 

 petalled variety of this latter species is used 

 does any real change take place, and then the 

 highly prized golden-yellow of the aurea 

 generally departs with as much freedom as 

 the purple, leaving the sepals and petals 

 either pure white or of varying creamy tints. 



C. Hardyana var. Clement Moore, the 

 subject of our coloured plate, is not only one 

 of the most beautiful forms yet seen, but it 

 is remarkable on account of the peculiar 

 manner in which both parents are represented. 

 At first sight there does not appear much 

 evidence of C. Warscewiczii, but an examina- 

 tion of the labellum shows a yellow area on 

 each side, which is characteristic of this 

 species, while the border colour has been 

 changed from crimson to purple. Consider- 

 ing the unquestionable inclusion of Warsce- 

 wiczii in this hybrid the most interesting 

 feature is that the sepals and petals, while 

 increased in size, have not become purplish 

 in colour. The broad golden-yellow sepals 

 and petals are precisely the kind that 

 hybridists have long endeavoured to produce ; 

 erect, and stiff in substance, they are vastly 

 superior to those usually seen in aurea. 



Mr. Clement Moore possesses at Hacken- 

 sack, N.J., U.S.A., one of the finest collections 

 of Cattleyas, while his varieties of Hardyana 

 are far and away the best that have ever been 



