April, 1914.] 



THE ORCHID WORLD. 



USELESS NAMES. 



THE rapidity with which new hybrids 

 are being raised, as well as the very 

 large number of names now m use, 

 is the cause of much perplexity amongst 

 amateurs. Although the professional raiser 

 of hybrids is meeting with increasing 

 difficulty m his work of producing new 

 crosses of greater interest and beauty than 

 those already seen, he still turns out new 

 hybrids with even greater rapidity than ever. 

 What will the future be like? Orchidists of 

 the present day, more especially those who 

 have spent many years amongst the plants 

 and consequentl)' have had a large number 

 of various hybrids through their hands, are 

 experiencing no small amount of worry, for 

 to remember even a small proportion of the 

 names and the parents of but one section is 

 no light task. 



It is the universal custom to apply a 

 different name to every distinct combination 

 of parents. But by so doing is not the 

 number of names being unnecessarily 

 increased ? Can all these names really stand 

 for as many different hybrids? Take, for 

 example, the two species crispum and 

 Harryanum. When crossed the result is 

 called crispo-Harryanum. By crossing crispo- 

 Harryanum with crispum a hybrid known as 

 amabile is produced. When amabile is mated 

 with crispum the result is called Jasper. And 

 by crossing amabile with crispo-Harryanum 

 a hybrid known as Mrs. Whitmeyer is 

 produced. Thus we have four hybrids of 

 crispum and Harryanum that are known by 

 four different names. During the next few 

 years many additional combinations of the 

 two species will undoubtedy be made. 



Everyone will readily admit that the flowers 

 of amabile are very different from those of 

 crispo-Harryanum, and in this case a 

 distinguishing name may not be considered 

 objectionable. But as further advances are 

 made the difference between each step 

 becomes gradually less ; a hybrid produced 

 by crossing amabile with crispum does not 

 differ very appreciably from amabile. There 

 is every evidence that the hybridist is 



continuing this progressive work, and, in 

 course of time, these hybrids, consisting of 

 only crispum and Harryanum, will be carried 

 to the twentieth generation. On our present 

 system of nomenclature we shall then have 

 twenty different names for as many hybrids, 

 which in all probability will bear a very close 

 resemblance to one another, so much so that 

 if they were all in flower during the same 

 period it would be impossible to correctly 

 determine under which name any selected 

 plant should be placed. 



It is the opinion of some that, however 

 small the change in the parentage may be, 

 a distinguishing name should be applied, for 

 in the majority of examples there is a 

 corresponding variation in the flowers. But 

 against this we have the views and 

 experience of others who state that there is 

 usually quite as much variation to be seen 

 amongst the individuals obtained from any 

 one seed pod. If it is necessary to apply a 

 distinctive name to a plant merely because 

 an unimportant slight change has been made 

 in its parentage, then it must be equally 

 necessary to adopt some means of marking 

 the many variations that always appear in 

 the flowers produced by hybrids that have all 

 been raised from the same seed pod. 



Not a few Orchidists have expressed an 

 opinion that no matter in what way or 

 proportion any two species are combined 

 there should be but one name for the 

 progeny ; any noteworthy variation could be 

 distinguished by a varietal name. This would 

 certainly simplify very much some of our 

 difficulties. Another suggestion worthy of 

 consideration is that three stages only should 

 be recognised, which in our previous example 

 would mean crispo-Harryanum, amabile and 

 Jasper, and that all subsequent hybrids 

 containing only crispum and Harryanum 

 should bear one of these names, according to 

 how they best correspond to the typical 

 example. 



It seems very certain that some revision in 

 our method of nomenclature is needed, but 

 how to overcome the troubles of the past and 

 to prevent worse in the future is by no means 

 easy. 



