30 



THE ORCHID WORLD. 



[November, 1913. 



Odontoglossum, on account of their similarity 

 in habit to Oncidium, yet in truth they rather 

 confirm that genus by showing that although 

 the appearance of Oncidium may be assumed, 

 yet the main points of structure remain 

 unaffected One of the most important of 

 these points is the partial parallelism of the 

 base of the labellum with the column, and the 

 presence of a pair of parallel raised plates 

 at that part. This occurs in the original 

 Odontoglossum, and runs through all the 

 numerous species, published and unpublished, 

 with which I am acquainted ; and it does not 

 occur in any Oncidium." 



NOMENCLATURE OF ALBINOS. 



THE albino varieties of Cattleyas, both 

 species and hybrids, may be divided 

 into two sections, the first including 

 those having entirely pure white flowers, of 

 course not counting the yellow in the throat, 

 and the second comprising the flowers with 

 white sepals and petals, but with a coloured 

 labellum. 



In Cattleya Mossias we have two well 

 recognised types of albinos, known respec- 

 tively as Wageneri and Reineckiana, the 

 former being the true albino, the latter having 

 a coloured labellum. It is, however, some- 

 what strange that while in nearly every other 

 species the pure white flower is termed alba, 

 we should in this instance use the word 

 Wageneri. No doubt the original white form 

 of Mossiae received this name, and it has ever 

 since been applied to every other white 

 variety of the species, although, as almost 

 everyone knows, the various plants in culti- 

 vation are mostly different, and not divisions 

 from the one original. It would much 

 simplify matters if the word alba were 

 brought into use, as with other species, and 

 in that case Wageneri would become a 

 varietal name of the albino form. Hassall's 

 variety, Sanderse, and superba are all certifi- 

 cated albino forms of equal importance to 

 Wageneri, and, therefore, should not really be 

 described as varieties of it. 



With regard to the coloured lipped varieties 



known as Reineckiana, we have in this 

 varietal word a generally understood meaning 

 that the flower is not white in all its segments. 

 It is a word which Orchidists interpret as 

 "colour in the labellum," although, at the 

 same time, the sepals and petals may be 

 absolutely pure white. We thus see that the 

 two distinct albino varieties of Mossiae have 

 been separated into two well-known and 

 easily recognised sections, the one as 

 Wageneri, the other as Reineckiana. 



Now let us pass on from species to hybrids. 

 During the last few years many very beautiful 

 albino results have been produced, and these, 

 like the species, require separating into two 

 sections. The alba section should only 

 include those which have all their segments 

 pure white, the following being a few 

 examples: — Cattleya Dusseldorfei Undine 

 (intermedia alba x Mossiae Wageneri), C. 

 Ashtonii (Harrisoniana alba x Warscewiczii), 

 Mrs. Myra Peeters (Gaskelliana x Warneri 

 alba), and C. Suzanne Hye de Crom (Mossiae 

 Wageneri x Gaskelliana alba). 



There are many flowers in which the purple 

 tint is so very weak that they appear to 

 belong more to the albino than to the coloured 

 section, and there is no doubt that many such 

 tinted flowers have been recorded as alba, 

 thereby causing considerable trouble, both 

 scientific and commercial. All these tinted 

 varieties, however small the amount of colora- 

 tion may be, should be placed under the term 

 albescens, a word which has long been in use, 

 even by the great Orchidologist Dr. Lindley, 

 who, in his "Introduction to Botany, 1832," 

 gives the meaning as " turning white, 

 changing to a whitish cast from some other 

 colour." 



We must now consider the flowers, more 

 especially hybrids, which have white sepals 

 and petals, yet coloured labellums. Examples 

 are numerous and include C. Hardyana alba, 

 C. Maggie Raphael alba, L.-C. Canhamiana 

 alba and L.-C. Wellsiana alba. These, as 

 everyone knows full well, are not white in all 

 their segments, and on that account are not 

 entitled to the word alba. 



During the present year many of these 

 hybrids have appeared before the Orchid 



