54 
JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
Some hybrid Orchids, raised by Mr. Yeitch, between species 
of Epidendron, with subsequent considerable variations in the 
results, called for observations ; as well as one between Dendro- 
bium Wardianum and D. jap onicum, a much smaller flowered 
species without any yellow in the lip. That in the labellum of 
D. Wardianum was completely obliterated, a purple spot being 
only retained. 
A hybrid sent by Sir T. Lawrence, called Azaleodendron , 
suggested some remarks upon what a species really was. For¬ 
merly it was thought to be a fixed entity, and that nature did 
not permit a hybrid to be fertile. This, however, has long since 
been disproved. Species were recognised by systematic botanists 
solely by the forms of the flowers, foliage, &c. But when two 
plants, regarded as belonging to different genera, e.g. Azalea 
and Bhododendron , were found capable of being crossed, then 
the offspring was either called a “ bigener,” or else “ form ” was 
ignored, and both parents were said to be of the same genus. 
“ Amaryllis ,” Hippeastrum Pardina, exhibited by Mr.Veitch, 
illustrated a case in which no benefit had followed from crossing, 
the flower being rather small, inferior-coloured, and the stem 
weak ; but A. Leopoldina , obtained simultaneously with the 
preceding from Peru, had been crossed with well-established and 
old crosses, and so brought about an excellent strain, this 
species having imparted a broader and flatter mouth to the 
perianth. The Professor drew attention to the slight irregularity 
which occurs in this flower, in that the lower and front petal is 
the smallest and not streaked with white as the others. More¬ 
over the stamens are decimate. He observed that most flowers, 
in which the stamens formed the support for, and bore the 
weight of the insects, assumed the above type of character ; in 
which the lower petal was more or less atrophied, and even some¬ 
times completely obliterated, as in the Horsechestnut. 
A group of Cyclamen with fringed petals represented a new 
“break” in this plant, a result of hypertrophy and a feature 
occurring in other flowers as well, for it has appeared in 
Begonias, greatly enhancing the beauty of the flower. 
