28o 
THE ORCHID WORLD. 
BRASSAVOLA DIGBYANA AND ITS L/ELIA HYBRIDS 
IN our last issue we gave an account of the 
Brasso-Cattleyas. On this occasion the 
Brasso-LaeHas are enumerated. They 
are considerably less in number and are, on 
the whole, inferior both in size and form. 
The first appeared in i8g8 under the name 
Brasso-Lfelia Digbyano-purpurata. Messrs. 
Veitch, who, it will be remembered, raised the 
first Brasso-Cattleya, must also be credited 
with flowering the first Brasso-Laelia ; when 
exhibited at the Royal Horticultural Society 
on December 13th, 1898, it obtained an 
Award of Merit. The King Edward VII. 
variety of this hybrid obtained a First-class 
Certificate when exhibited by Messrs. Veitch 
on March i ith, 1902. 
The second hybiid of this class to appear 
was Brasso-Laelia Mrs. M. Gratrix, obtained 
by crossing B. Digbyana with Laelia cinna- 
barina ; it obtained an Award of Merit 
October 24th, 1899. Four varieties of this 
hybrid have also been certificated by the 
Orchid Committee of the Royal Horticultural 
Society, viz., grandis, superba, Tring Park 
var., and Westfield var. This cross will), 
probably, prove to be of the greatest utility 
of all the Brasso-L^elias, for we have the 
rich cinnabar cfolour of the one species com- 
bined with the large frjngecl! lip of the other, 
both qualities being of great service in 
the production of secondary and tertiary 
hybrids. 
On May 28th, 1902, Messrs. Charlesworth 
exhibited Brasso-Laelia Helen, a richly 
coloured hybrid obtained by crossing B. 
Digbyana with Laelia tenebrosa. An Award 
of Merit was granted to the plant. 
During the following year there flowered in 
the collection of Mr. Joseph Chamberlain, at 
Birmingham, a plant raised from B. Dig- 
byana X L. crispa, and Mr. Chamberlain 
stated that he wished to call this hybrid 
Brasso-Laelia Rolfei, in compliment to Mr. 
R. A. Rolfe, and as a tribute to the work he 
has done for Orchidology. 
What might he called a curious cross is 
B. Digbyana x L. anceps. It is recorded in the 
Journal of the French Horticultural Society, 
1906, p. 30, under the name Brasso-Laelia 
Lellieuxii. 
Four Brasso-Laelias appeared during the 
year 1907. The first was Brasso-Laelia J^ouis- 
Bel (B. Digbyana x L. Boothiana), the next 
a secondary hj-brid obtained by crossing B.-L. 
Helen with L. cinnabrosa (cinnabarina x 
tenebrosa) and exhibited by Sir George Hol- 
ford on April 30th, when it received an Award 
of Merit as B.-L. Gipsy. 
The third to appear in 1907 was a hybrid 
raised in the collection of Mr. Richd. G. 
Thwaites, of Streatham, between B. Dig- 
byana and the very scarce flowering L. 
grandiflora, or better known in gardens as L. 
majalis, it is recorded as B.-L. Thwaitesii. 
The last to record for this year being Brasso- 
Laelia Jessopi (B. Digbyajia x L. xantliina), 
the flower having a rich )'ello\v colour. 
Brasso-Laelia Rosslyn, a hybrid from B. 
Digbyana x L. Latona (cinnabarina x pur- 
purata), was recorded in 1908, and about the 
same time in this year Mr. Thwaites exhibited 
Brasso-Laelia Cecilia, a hybrid obtained by 
fertilising L. pumila with the pollen of B. 
Digbyana. 
In Messrs. Charlesworth's catalogue for 
1909 are mentioned Brasso-Laelia Suessa 
(B. Digbyana x L. cinnabrosa), B.-L. Mackayi 
(B. Digbyana x L. elegcins), and B.-L. Mdme. 
Irene Mavrocordata, a hybrid obtained by 
crossing B. Digbyana with L. lona (tenebrosa 
X Dayana). 
These hybrids require similar treatment to 
the Brasso-Cattleyas, that is, plenty of warmth 
and moisture when growing, and a good light 
in the autumn to ripen their bulbs. Brassa- 
vola Digbyana naturally receives a large 
amount of sunshine, and undler cultivatioai 
its thick leaves are less liable to be burnt by 
the sun than those of the more tender Ltlia 
species. Cultivators would, therefore, do well 
to allo\\'' the hybrids a somewhat intermediate 
condition of shade. 
