THE 



ORCHID WORLD. 



APRIL, 1914 j 



NOTES. ^^^^^^^r::^ 



Odoxtoglossum Edwardii. — Messrs. J. 

 and A. McBean, Cooksbridge, have recently 

 flowered a noble plant of Odontoglossum 

 Edvvardii. The inflorescence was just over 

 seven feet in height, carried about twent\- 

 branches, and a total number of 314 blooms. 



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List of Hybrids. — Messrs. .Sander and 

 Sons have just published an addenda to their 

 well-known " List of Orchid H_\-brids." 

 Former editions brought the work up to the 

 end of 191 2, and the present addenda 

 completes the list up to the end of 191 3. 

 Every care has been taken to verify the 

 records, and the complete list will be found 

 an essential guide in every Orchid collection, 

 as well as helping to avoid the too prevalent 

 duplication and synonymy existing in the 

 present nomenclature of hybrids. 



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Permanence of Albinism. — Are albinos 

 always true ? I say no. A flower oi Lycastc 

 .Skinneri, which flowered with mc in 1888 

 from a newly-imported piece, was sent to the 

 Gardening World, where, in an issue of that 

 date, it was described as a most perfect form 

 of Lycaste .Skinneri alba. The following year 

 this plant refused to flower, owing, no doubt, 

 to my bad cultivation, but since then I have 

 had more experience, and have succeeded in 

 getting it to flower every year, although 

 always in the coloured form, of which I now 

 send a specimen. I have named this variety 

 The Dream. I have several Orchids which 

 have proved albinos on their first flowering, 

 but in after years have shown col<jur in the 

 flower. I should like to know if any readers 



of the Orchid World have had similar 

 experiences ? As promised, I also send a spike 

 of Dendrobium Wardianum with five flowers. 

 This, I believe, is an unrecorded case. — 

 Robert Twiss, Bird/iill, Limerick. 



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Pollination by Birds. — At the meeting 

 of the Linnean Society, March 5th, 19 14, Mr. 

 C. F. M. Swynnerton read a paper, entitled 

 " Short Cuts b)' Birds to Nectaries," illustrated 

 by lantern-slides from photographs and 

 drawings by the author. He stated that birds 

 were watched visiting flowers, and flowers 

 were examined for indirect evidence. Not 

 only sunbirds (which indeed are often great 

 evaders of pollen), but many other birds as 

 well, visited certain flowers freely for their 

 honey, and were probably of use to them for 

 cross-fertilisation. Certain birds, and some 

 individuals more than others, ap])arently 

 disliked being besprinkled with ]iollen, anil 

 tended always to enter flowers by brtMches 

 made by themselves or their predecessors. 

 Other birds tried, cmitrariwise, to enter the 

 flowers by their natural openings and so to be 

 of use to them for cross-fertilisation, exec fling 

 in the case of individual flowers that 

 liap])('n(-d, through inconvenience in their own 

 or the bird's position, etc., to cjffer some 

 difficulty. If these were insufficiently 

 protected as well, they were often either 

 pierced or the openings already made in them 

 by the more indiscriminating birds were 

 utilised. Insects also tended to utilise the 

 breaches made by birds, and so probably in 

 large part failed to counteract the hitter's 

 discriminative influence. In most cases the 

 eliminative effect, if any, of the damage was 



VOL. IV. 



19 



