May 25 , 1889. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
Cl 3 
for the resemblance is very striking, both in the dwarf 
stems (1 in. to 3 ins.), the radical tuft of spatliulate 
leaves, and the dense head of deep blue flowers, which 
are proportionately large for the size of the plant. It 
occurs in certain districts or localities of Kashmir, and 
grows very profusely on the southern and western edges 
of hills, at altitudes varying from 11,500 ft. to 13,000 
ft. In its native habitats, when growing profusely 
under favourable conditions, it must simply he 
lovely. As it inhabits several of the Himalayan 
valleys and ranges, it is rather to be regretted that 
such a gem has not been procured for our gardens at 
a beautiful border plant about 18 ins. high, much 
branched, and bearing numerous terminal and axillary 
racemes of flowers that vary greatly from bright blue to 
white. The foliage has a beautiful glaucous tint, cha¬ 
racteristic of a great number of the species of Mertensia. 
It is quite hardy and vigorous. The radical leaves are 
broad and heart-shaped, or sometimes reniform, while 
the stem-leaves are ovate or lance-shaped. Linnreus 
named it Pulmonaria sibirica, while another authority 
called it P. denticulata, and others Mertensia denticu- 
latum, Lithospermum sibiricum, and Steenhammera 
Pallasii.— F. 
illustration) is oblong, somewhat flattened, and covered 
by thin, dry, pale-coloured sheaths. This is terminated 
by a solitary, oblong, emarginate, channelled, leathery 
leaf, which is deep green and tinted with a bronzy hue. 
Perhaps the most remarkable feature of the hybrid is 
that the form of all parts is so nearly that of Lrelia 
Digbyana, the male parent, while the colour is derived 
from the seed parent. The shape, however, as well as 
the beautiful soft rose colour of the sepals, is that of the 
female parent (Cattleya Mossire). The petals are 
similarly coloured, but broader, oblong-elliptic, and 
toothed at the margin. As stated in our last 
The new hi-generic hybrid Orchid : Lielia Digbyana-Mossiie. 
home. There are taller-growing forms of the species. 
M. racemosa. —The short-tubed white flowers of 
this plant render it remarkably distinct from any other 
species. They are produced rather sparingly, but under 
favourable conditions are pretty. Both in size and 
colour they may be compared to those of Omphalodes 
linifolia, belonging to the same family. It is a native 
of Kumaon, on the Himalayas, at an altitude of 8,600 ft. 
M. sibirica. —The number of synonyms with which 
this plant is hampered is evidence, to a certain extent, 
of its wide distribution ; for it is not confined to Siberia, 
but extends over a considerable portion of Eastern Asia 
and North America, particularly on the Eocky Moun¬ 
tains. In Colorado it ranges at elevations between 
10,000 ft. and 11,000 ft. Since 1801 it has been more 
or less widely cultivated in this country, and constitutes 
LiELIA DIGBYANA-MOSSI2E. 
Being to-day enabled to give an illustration of this 
remarkable bi-generic hybrid, commented upon in our 
last, we again revert to the subject. It was obtained 
from seed of Cattleya Mossire, fertilised with pollen 
from Lrelia Digbyana. According to horticultural 
practice, the rule is, when simply indicating the 
parentage of a hybrid, to write the seed parent first 
followed by a X and then the pollen parent, thus— 
Cattleya Mossire X Lrelia Digbyana ; but in the 
compounding of a Latin name from two others, the 
male parent amongst plants is considered the most 
important by leading authorities, and that must be 
taken as the explanation for the above arrangement of 
the specific names of the two parents of the hybrid 
in question. The pseudo-bulb (not shown in the 
issue, the lip is formed like that of Lrelia Digbyana, 
with a widely-expanded lamina and a deeply-lacerated 
or fringed margin. The lamina is variously veined 
and marked with the same rich purple seen in some of 
the forms of Cattleya Mossire ; the crest-like elevation 
of the male parent is discernible but is not very bulky. 
Botanically, one of the most interesting features of the 
new comer is the beak or elongation of the ovary, 
which is itself very short. This beak is a character 
very strongly developed in the genus Brassavola, in 
which Lrelia Digbyana and D. glauca used to be in¬ 
cluded, and in the bi-generic hybrid it is 4 ins. long, 
including the ovary. We may safely say, speaking 
both from a botanical and horticultural point of view, 
nothing so remarkable, and at the same time so beau¬ 
tiful, has been produced amongst Orchids for a long time. 
