202 
THE ORCHID WORLD. 
L/ELIA CINNABARINA AND ITS HYBRIDS. 
L^LIA cinnabarina with its small, poor 
shaped flower would be worthless but 
' for its intense cinnabar or blood-red 
pigment, a colour rarely found in any other 
species of Orchid. Ever since the commence- 
ment of raising Orchids from seed hybridists 
have attempted to produce a red or scarlet 
flower of large size by means of this species. 
Great difficulty has so far been encountered, 
for whenever the cinnabar colour has been 
transmitted to the seedlings the poor starry 
shape has almost always been inherited at the 
same time. Only careful breedmg will be 
likely to produce the desired result. It must 
be remembered that a red or scarlet flower 
may also be procured by the assistance of 
Sophronitis grandiflora, but the present article 
will only deal with the influence of Leelia 
cinnabarina. 
It is a well known fact that all the long 
bulbed Orchids, such as La?lia flava, L. 
cuinabarina, L. harpophylla, and Cattleya 
intermedia, have a very dominating influence 
over the shorter bulbed section. It has been 
suggested, and there seems a large amount of 
truth in it, that the long bulbed Orchids are 
the oldest species and have, therefore, a much 
stronger character or persuasive power over 
the species produced in a later period. This 
may throw some light on the character of 
Laelia cinnabarina, and explain how it is that 
so much trouble is experienced in transmitting 
its rich cinnabar pigment without at the same 
time reproducing its poor, starry shape. 
This remarkable specific strength is also 
visible in the comparatively easy way in 
which L. cinnabarina hybrids can be raised, 
and may account for the large numbers of 
them seen in amateurs' and recently started 
seedling-raising establishments. 
L.5:lia cinnabarina crossed with a 
l.'elia species. 
Almost all possible crosses have already 
been made between Laslia cinnabarina and 
the remaining species of the genus, and, with 
one or two exceptions, poor results have fol- 
lowed. This may be accounted for by either 
the poor shape or the small size of all the 
Laelia species. In the case of Laelia cinna- 
brosa (cinnabarina x tenebrosa) a more 
favourable combination occurs, for the large 
reddish-brown flower of tenebrosa is improved 
b)' the cinnabarina influence, and a flower of 
a pleasing colour is obtained. L. Coronet 
(cinnabarina x harpophylla) will prove to be 
a valuable breeding plant, for in this we have 
the additional bright-orange red of the harpo- 
]ohylla ; an early proof of which is to be seen 
in Laelio-Cattleya Elinor (L. Coronet x 
Schroderae) a flower which, while still retain- 
ing the bright orange colour, is of fair shape 
and substance. It received an Award of 
Merit at the Royal Horticultural Society, 
March i;th, igo8. 
A very probable success in obtaining a 
good shaped Laelia cinnabarina hybrid would 
be by the use of some of the best forms of 
Laelia anceps. But, strange to say, one is 
unable to find any record of this cross having 
been made, although Laelia autumnalis, a 
species somewhat similar to anceps, produced 
a hybrid, known as Laelia Stanislaus, which 
flowered in 1903. 
l.-elia cinnabarina crossed with a 
Cattleya species. 
In these hybrids, known as Laelio-Cattleyas, 
better results have been obtained in shape 
and size, especially is this the case with such 
large flowering species as Cattleya Warsce- 
wiczii and the labiata group. But even 
when these hybrids flowered the dominating 
influence of cinnabarina caused considerable 
disappointment by very much reducing the 
size and form of the flower, although there 
was a considerable amount of the cinnabar 
colour. 
The group of Laelio-Cattleyas in which 
cinnabarina takes a part is of such large 
dimensions that only a selection of the most 
distinct can be attempted. One of the 
