IHl- OKCIIII) WORLh. 
55 
c)l the flower by the chemical action ot Ught 
and air. The plant contains selected coloured 
sap which is drawn up through the stem to 
the bud, and is split up along the veins upon 
the surface of the flower. This sap, by the 
process known as ripening, is made more or 
less responsive to the action of oxidation by 
light and air, and the varying richness of the 
colours obtained in the flowers depends upon 
the amount of light and air admitted to the 
plant during the ripening period as well as 
the final stages of the flowers' development. 
When a plant produces flowers of richer 
colours than previously we say " this is due to 
good cultivation," and so it is. The npe: the 
plant, and the more light and pure air 
available for the cultivator's judicious use, the 
richer will be the colour sap, and the more 
noticeable will be the chemical change of the 
sap in the veins upon the surface of the 
flower. 
A plant which has flowered white one year 
and slightly flushed the next may be made to 
flower white again by allowing the bud to 
open in the dark, and so preventing the light 
from producing a chemical change in the sap. 
I believe that plants which flower white one 
year and flushed another year possess in 
themselves a small quantity of colour sap, 
which is observed in the colour of the flower 
i97?/;/ when sufficient oxidation has taken 
place. Only those plants which flower white 
year after year under good cultivation may 
be looked upon as " fixed,'" and these are the 
only safe plants to use for producing white 
progeny. 
When albinos, so-called, will not intercross 
to produce white I would attribute the reason 
to one or both of the parents containing 
colour sap, and by the same reasoning I 
commit myself to the belief that all true 
albinos will intercross with their own class to 
produce white. 
In closing this paper I would ask all those 
who are interested in Orchids to use their 
endeavours to stop the careless, misleading, 
and too frequent use of the word alba as 
applied to plants which have no right to the 
description. By this I do not merely mean 
flowers with coloured lips, but I particularly 
refer to those flowers which are distinctly 
flushed with colour on the sepals and petals, 
and are still labelled alba. 
The recording of such plants as white not 
only creates considerable difficulty in arriving 
at logical conclusions, but is particularly 
unfair to those who must have accurate data 
from which to work, and who, by their 
writings, are endeavouring to assist the raiser. 
NEW HYBRIDS. 
Cypripedium Tracery. — A charming 
little hybrid between Psyche (niveum x 
bellatulum) and Fairrieanum has been raised 
by Mr. F. C. Puddle in the Scampston Hall 
Gardens, Rillington, York. The porcelain- 
white flower is prettily covered with fine 
rose-purple tracery having an inclination to 
arrange itself in lineal fashion. 
L/ELIO-Cattleya Thyone. — By crossing 
L.-C. Ophir (xanthina x aurea) with C. aurea 
a further addition to the yellow-flowering 
section has been produced. The additional 
influence of aurea has resulted m a fairly 
large golden-yellow flower of good substance 
and of special value for future hybridis- 
ing purposes. This hybrid has recently 
flowered in the Ashtead Park collection, from 
whence a bloom has been sent by Mr. Fames. 
Odontoglossum SCINTILLANS. — This 
pretty hybrid between Rossii rubescens and 
Wilckeanum was exhibited at the Manchester 
Orchid Society, October i/th, 191 2, by Mr. 
Wm. Thompson, of Stone. The flower 
resembles Od Fowlerianum (Rossii x cirr- 
hosum) m the sparsely spotted nature of the 
sepals. The efi^ect of luteopurpurt-um, derived 
through the Wilckeanum parent, may be seen 
in the somewhat elongated segments and the 
brownish tinge of the spotting. 
Cattleya Mad. Charlier. — As a useful 
autumn flowering hybrid this cross between 
Mantinii and labiata would be difficult to 
equal. The rich colouring of the former 
parent, composed of Bowringiana and aurea, 
adds considerable beauty to the large flower 
of labiata. Raised in the collection of Mons. 
