THE ORCHID WORLD. 273 
A rare hybrid may be seen in Sophro-Catt- 
leya Queen Empress, the result of crossing S. 
grandiflora with C. Mossiae. Only one plant 
of this hybrid seems to have been ever 
flowered, and this was exhibited by Messrs. 
Veitch, in 1899, ultimately finding a home in 
the Dell collection. A hybrid of great 
promise is Sophro-Cattleya Doris crossed 
with Cattleya Fabia. Another is Laslia 
pumila alba with Cattleya aurea, a white 
sepalled and 
petalled flower 
being antici- 
pated from 
this cross. 
There are also 
a few Cym- 
bidium seed- 
lings which 
grow well in 
this house. 
The large 
Cattleya house 
contains a n 
immense num- 
ber of the 
principal Catt- 
le y a and 
L ae 1 i o - Catt- 
leya hybrids, 
the majorit)- 
being of flower- 
ing size. C. 
Iris (bicolor x 
aurea) and C. 
Adula (bicolor 
G r o s s i X OJontoglossum Thompsonianum 
Hard) ana) are two of the best hybrids which 
have been made from the long-bulbed section 
of Cattleyas, the latter hybrid being particu- 
larly good on account of the broad lip 
possessed by the variety of bicolor used. 
Many hybrids have been made from 
Cattleya aurea, one of the most distinct being 
C. Maggie Raphael alba (aurea x Trians 
alba), a beautiful pure-white sepalled and 
petalled flower having a purple lip veined with 
gold. Other hybrids of aurea include : C. 
Octave Doin, C. Hardyana, C. Empress 
Frederick, C. Fabia, and C. Leda. Even 
better results are .still expected from the use 
of Cattleya aurea, so this species is being 
continually used for hybridisation. Several 
of the finest forms of other well-known .species 
are being self-fertilised, as it is hoped that at 
least a few seedlings from these pods will be 
of very special merit. 
Efforts are also being made to create 
superior forms of the earlier crosses of 
Cattleyas and La^lio-Cattlej-as by using 
parents of 
only the finest 
kind. 1 1 i s 
now becoming 
very difficult 
to create 
crosses which 
have not been 
previously 
made. 
Many disap- 
p o i n t m ents 
have been met 
with in the 
attempts t o 
raise albino 
Cattleyas from 
seed, the 
majority re- 
verting to 
the typical 
coloured form.. 
Success has, 
nowever, been 
achieved in 
C. labiata alba 
(O. Edwardii x O. crispum). j^^d C. Mossiae 
Wagneri. Cattleya Dusseldorfei Undine is 
another beautiful white hybrid resulting from 
the crossing of Cattleya intermedia alba and 
Cattleya Mossiee Wagneri, the Chessington 
strain of this hybrid being particularly good 
in point of substance and shape. 
Another spacious house, which is devoted 
to Cattleyas, contains a number of vigorous 
plants of Cattleya Blackii, the result of 
crossing C. Gaskelliana alba with C. Mendelii 
alba. All the flowers of this hybrid are of a 
delicate pink colour, and, so far, no pure- 
white ones have appeared. A similar instance 
VOL. I. 
36 
