May, 1914.] 



THE ORCHID WORLD. 



Odontioda Clive. — One of the finest 

 additions to the Odontiodas has been 

 produced in the collection of Mrs. Norman 

 Cookson, Wylam, and when exhibited at 

 the Royal Horticultural Society, April "th, 

 1914, received an Award of Merit. ^Ir. 

 H. J. Chapman, who raised this seedling, 

 believes it to be the result of crossing Oda. 

 Bradshawias, Cookson's var. with Odm. 

 Vuylstekei, but awaits the flowering of 

 other plants before finally deciding There 

 is, however, good evidence that the 

 suggested parentage is correct. Our 

 illustration shows the nature of the broad 

 and finely developed segments, the colour 

 of which is crimson-red, with a light rose 

 margin to the petals and labellum, while 

 the whole flower has a varnished appear- 

 ance. The blotch on the labellum is very 

 indicative of the two species triumphans 

 and luteopurpureum, both of which are 

 contained in Vuylstekei. 



Odontioda Clive. 



Orchid Culture. — The Orchid World 

 gets more interesting with each number. The 

 essentially practical article on Sophronitis 

 hybrids by Mrs. Thwaites was particularly 

 interesting, and so were those on Cypri- 

 pedium bcllatulum. This species grows well 

 with me anywhere in the house ; a plant I 

 bought two years ago with two growths, one 

 carrying a flower, consists, at the present 

 time, of eight growths, most of them 

 promising bloom. I can fully endorse Mr. 

 Alf. J. Paine's " plenty of air " treatment. 

 About twelve months ago I had the ordinary 

 roof ventilators removed, and had a narrow 

 ventilator two inches wide constructed along 

 the whole length of the roof on both sides of 

 the ridge. In the coldest weather one of 

 these ventilators is always open, perhaps onlv 

 a quarter of an inch, and I have found 

 the benefit. When suitable atmospheric 

 conditions exist outside the bottom venti- 

 lators are also open, thus creating a stream of 

 air through the house. — Henry R. Stcrrett, 

 Alexandra Road, Tlcslon-Hounslow. 



Hybrid Ophryses. — At a meeting of the 

 I-innean Society, held April 2nd, 1914, Mr. 

 R. A. Rolfe exhibited a series of coloured 

 drawings of five hybrid Ophryses, raised by 

 M. Fernand Denis, Balaruc-les-Bains, France, 

 from Ophrys tenthredinifera crossed with the 

 pollen of O. aranifera ; together with the two 

 parents. This, he stated, was believed to be 

 the first hybrid Ophrys raised artificially, and 

 it proved the origin of a natural hybrid that 

 has been recorded from three localities in 

 Italy, and is known under the names O. 

 Grampinii, Cortesi, and O. etrusca. The 

 hybrids varied somewhat between themselves, 

 but all showed an unmistakable combination 

 of the characters of the two parents, particu- 

 larly in the colour and markings of the lip, 

 and in the peculiar combination of rose and 

 green in the sepals and petals. M. Denis has 

 a batch of some forty seedlings in flower and 

 bud. At least eighteen natural hybrid 

 Ophryses have been recorded, and Mr. Rolfe 

 believed there were others. He would be 

 greatly obliged to anyone who would send 

 him examples, as he is studying them. Dr. 

 A. B. Rendle referred to the importance of 

 these observations and experiments as 



