November, 1913-] 



THE ORCHID WORLD. 



33 



Lslio-Cattleya Marlinelii ' The Prince" a beautiful specimen in the Westonbirt collection. 



L/ELIA TENEBROSA AS 

 A PARENT. 



THE rapid advance made by hybridists 

 in the production of secondary and 

 tertiary hybrids allows one to form 

 some opinion of the immense number of 

 hybrids that will have to be recorded in the 

 future. There is a general desire among 

 hybridists, more so with the amateur section, 

 to combine as many species as possible, no 

 doubt with the belief that the greater the 

 amount of varying specific characters they 

 can unite in their hybrid so much the better 

 will it be. But older and more experienced 

 hybridists are well acquainted with the fact 

 that the name, however long and multiple it 

 may be, by no means assures the raiser that 

 all the species mentioned in the parentage 



will be represented in either the plant or the 

 flower. 



The successful hybridist of the present day 

 carefully considers the parental characters 

 before deciding upon any definite cross. In 

 this matter he has considerable advantage 

 over the early workers in the same field. 

 Much has been learnt since the days of 

 Dominy, who, although securing several 

 excellent results, had no idea of the immense 

 variation in colour which could be obtained 

 in Orchids. 



Leelia tenebrosa has been very successfully 

 used in creating hybrids of varying bronze 

 tints. The flowers of this species are so 

 different to the usual type of mauve and 

 purple colours that one sometimes wonders 

 why they have not been still more appre- 

 ciated by the hybridist. In Laslio-Cattleya 



VOL. IV. 



6 



