HYBRID CATTLEYAS AND LAELIAS
To right, in the Vanda House, are many hybrids of Cattleya and Laelia; but we have many more, and it will be convenient to notice them all together in this place. Some have not flowered yet, and therefore have received no name; but even of these it is worth while to give the parentage, seeing that there is no official record of hybridisation as yet. Mr. Rolfe at Kew tries hard to keep pace with the enterprise of enthusiastic amateurs and energetic professionals throughout the world. But comparatively few report to him, and not every one files the Orchid Review. Thus it happens that experiments carried to an issue long ago are continually repeated, in the expectation of producing a novelty. The experimenter indeed loses nothing save the credit he hoped to win. But in the scientific point of view time is wasted and the confusion of names is increased. To contribute in my small way towards an improvement in this state of things I give a list of the Cattleya and Laelia hybrids at Woodlands, long though it be, and uninteresting to the public at large; assured that it will be welcome to those who study this most fascinating subject.
I may take the hybrids as they stand, with no methodical arrangement. L.-C. means the product of a Laelia and a Cattleya, or, somewhat loosely, of a Cattleya and a Laelia. C. × means the product of two Cattleyas; L. × of two Laelias.
L.-C. Ancona (Catt. Harrisoniae × L. purpurata) represents each parent almost equally, taking after Catt. Harrisoniae in colour and size of sepal and petal; in general shape and in the hues of the labellum after L. purpurata.
L.-C. Nysa (L. crispa × Catt. Warcewiczii).—Pale mauve—the petals have a sharp touch of crimson at the tips. Labellum all evenly crimson with a narrow outline of white, gracefully frilled.
L. × Measuresiana.—A natural hybrid, very rare, assumed to be the product of L. elegans × L. purpurata. Rosy mauve. From the tube, very long, the labellum opens squarely, purple, with a clouded throat and dusky yellow ‘eyes.’
L.-C. Arnoldiana (L. purpurata × Catt. labiata). Large, clear mauve. Petals much attenuated at the ends, which gives them a sort of ‘fly-away’ appearance. The fine expanded lip, of carmine crimson, is clouded with a deeper tint round the orange throat.
L. × Claptonensis (L. elegans × L. Dormaniana).—Small, white with a rosy flush. The long shovel lip is brilliantly crimson, fading to a white edge.
L.-C. amanda.—A natural hybrid of which Catt. intermedia is one parent, L. Boothiana perhaps the other. Pale pink. The yellow throat and the bright rosy lip show lines of deep crimson, strongly ‘feathered’ on either side.
L. × Gravesiae (L. crispa superba × L. praestans).—Small, rosy white. The spade-like lip is magenta-crimson, wonderfully smooth and brilliant, with two little yellow ‘eyes’ in the throat.
L.-C. Tiresias (Catt. Bowringiana × L. elegans).—The petals are exactly oval, saving pretty twirls and twists at the edges—soft bright mauve, the narrow sepals paler. The funnel lip does not open wide, but in colour it is like the richest and silkiest crimson velvet, almost maroon at the throat; charmingly frilled and gauffered.
C. × Portia.—Parents doubtful, but evidently Catt. Bowringiana is one of them, Catt. labiata perhaps the other. Sepals and petals lively mauve, the latter darker. The funnel of the lip brightest rose, disc of the softest tenderest crimson imaginable, deepening against the pale yellowish throat.
L.-C. Tresederiana (Catt. Loddigesii × L. crispa superba).—Rather curious than beautiful. The narrow petals and narrower sepals are pallid violet; the labellum has a faintly yellow throat, and the dull purple disc of Catt. crispa; not evenly coloured but in strong lines.
C. × Mantinii nobilior (Catt. Bowringiana × Catt. aurea).—Raised by M. Mantin. Delicious is a proper word for it—neat and graceful in shape, rosy-crimson in colour. The lip opens widely, exquisitely veined with gold within. It has a golden tinge on either side the throat, and a margin of deeper crimson. The whole colouring is indescribably soft and tender.
C. × Mantinii inversa represents the same parentage transposed (Catt. aurea × Catt. Bowringiana).—Small like its mother, of brightest deepest rose. The lip, loosely open above, swells to a fine expanse below, of darker tint. Throat golden, charmingly scored with crimson-brown, like aurea. The disc shows an arch of dark crimson on a rosy ground. It will be seen that the influence of Bowringiana strongly predominates.
C. × Chloris (Catt. Bowringiana × Catt. maxima) much resembles the above. It is less brilliant, however; the lip does not open so freely, and the arch mentioned, though even darker, is not so effective on a less lively ground.
L.-C. Fire Queen.—Parentage not recorded. I have not seen this flower, nor even an account of it, but it received an Award of Merit, June 6, 1897.
L.-C. Lady Wigan (L. purpurata Russelliana × Catt. Mossiae aurea).—Dainty pink of sepal and petal. From the pale yellow throat issue a number of crimson rays which darken to violet purple in the disc.
C.-L. Parysatis (Catt. Bowringiana × L. pumila).—Rosy pink. The funnel-shaped lip opens handsomely, showing a disc of soft crimson with a white speck at the tip.
L.-C. Robin Measures is assumed to be a natural hybrid of Laelia xanthina × Catt. Regnieri, a variety of Catt. Schilleriana. Sepals and petals smooth dainty green, the latter just touched with a suspicion of purple at the tips. It has the shovel lip of Schilleriana, a yellow tube and golden throat, from which descends a line of darkest crimson. The ground-colour of the disc is white, but clouded with crimson-lake and closely barred with dark crimson up to the white edge.
L.-C. Bellairensis (Catt. Bowringiana × L. Goldiana).—So curiously like L. autumnalis that a close observer even would take it for that species. In shape, however, it is more graceful than the pink form, and in colour much more pale than atro-rubens.
L.-C. Tiresias superba (Catt. Bowringiana × L. elegans Turneri).—I heard some one exclaim ‘What a study in colour!’ It is indeed, and in form too—not large, but smoothly regular as pencil could draw. The sepals make an exact triangle, delicate rosy purple, netted over with soft lines. Petals broad and short, darker. Lip rather long, white in the throat with a faintest stain of yellow, the disc and edges of the lobes glorious crimson-purple, with a dark cloud above which stretches all up the throat. A gem of beauty indescribable.
C. × Browniae.—Bought as a hybrid of Catt. Bowringiana × Catt. Loddigesii, but it shows no trace of either parent. Very pretty and odd, however. The tiny little sepals are hardly seen, lost behind the huge pink petals. The lip also has pink lobes above a gamboge throat, and a bright crimson-purple disc.
L.-C. Albanensis.—A natural hybrid, doubtless the product of L. grandis × Catt. Warneri. Pale rosy-mauve, lip crimson, deepening as it expands, but fading again towards the margin. A large and grand flower.
L.-C. Aphrodite (Catt. Mendelii × L. purpurata).—Sepals and petals pure white. Labellum deepest crimson with rosy tip.
L. × Sanderae (L. xanthina × L. Dormaniana).—Sepals and petals crimson, lip purplish rose.
C. × Mariottiana (Catt. Eldorado × Catt. gigas).—Very pretty, dark rose, lip bright crimson with yellow throat.
L. × splendens (L. crispa × L. purpurata).—Pink. Lip crimson-purple, edged with white, heavily fringed.
C. × Atalanta (Catt. Leopoldii × Catt. Warcewiczii).—Large and waxy. Sepals and petals rose veined with crimson, lip bright magenta.
L.-C. excellens (Catt. gigas ocullata × L. purpurata Brysiana).—A superb flower, very large, rosy mauve, lip crimson.
L.-C. Amazon (Catt. maxima × L. purpurata).—Sepals and petals softly flushed, lip much darker in tone, veined with crimson.
C. × Prince of Wales (Catt. fimbriata × Catt. Wageneri).—White. The lip amethyst, veined with rose and frilled; throat golden.
C. × Kienastiana (Catt. Luddemanniana × Catt. aurea).—Sepals flushed white, petals warm lilac, the veins paler; magenta lip with shadings of orange and lilac towards the edge and a white margin.
L.-C. Hon. Mrs. Astor (Catt. Gaskelliana × L. xanthina).—Sepals clear yellow, petals white with a sulphur tinge; throat golden yellow veined with purple, disc rose, veined with crimson and edged with lilac.
L.-C. Broomfieldensis (Catt. aurea-chrysotoxa × L. pumila Dayana).—Mauve. The lip deep crimson, gracefully frilled; the throat has crimson and gold markings on a purple ground.
C. × Fowleri (Catt. Leopoldii × Catt. Hardyana).—Rosy lilac, lip crimson. The side lobes are white tipped with crimson.
C. × Miss Measures (Catt. speciosissima × Catt. velutina).—Pretty mauve-pink with darker lines. Golden throat, lip crimson veined with purple.
C. × William Murray (Catt. Mendelii × Catt. Lawrenceana).—Rosy with a purple tinge. Throat veined with orange and purple, lip purple-crimson.
L.-C. C.-G. Roebling (L. purpurata alba × Catt. Gaskelliana).—Sepals and petals flushed, lip deepest violet, suffused with crimson and edged with white.
L.-C. D. S. Brown (Catt. Trianae × L. elegans).—Soft pink, throat yellow with a brownish tinge, lip carmine-crimson.
L.-C. Mardellii fascinator (L. elegans Turneri × Catt. speciosissima).—Mauve. Throat yellow, darkening to orange in front, lip purple-crimson.
L.-C. callistoglossa (L. purpurata × Catt. gigas).—Sepals pale rosy mauve, petals darker. Throat yellow streaked with purple; lip purple.
L.-C. callistoglossa ignescens (Catt. gigas × L. purpurata).—Sepals rosy lilac, petals a deeper shade, lip glowing purple.
L. × Latona (L. purpurata × L. cinnabarina).—Pale orange. Lip whitish at the base, the disc crimson bordered with orange.
L.-C. Decia (L. Perrinii × Catt. aurea).—Pale violet, deepening towards the tips. Lip crimson, streaked with white on the side lobes, with white and rosy purple on the disc.
L.-C. Eudora (Catt. Mendelii × L. purpurata).—Rosy purple. Lip deepest crimson shaded with maroon.
L.-C. Eudora alba (L. purpurata alba × Catt. Mendelii).—Ivory white. Lip crimson with purple shadings.
L.-C. Hippolyta (Catt. Mossiae × L. cinnabarina).—Bright orange with a rosy purplish tinge. The lip red-purple, much frilled.
L.-C. Zephyra (Catt. Mendelii × L. xanthina).—All Nankin yellow except the crimson disc, which has a pale margin.
L.-C. Amesiana (L. crispa × Catt. maxima).—White washed with amethyst. Lip purple-crimson fading towards the margin.
L.-C. Exoniensis (Catt. Mossiae × L. crispa).—White flushed with rosy mauve. Lip purple-crimson.
L. × Yula (L. cinnabarina × L. purpurata).—Scarcely larger than cinnabarina, bright orange, the petals veined and flushed with crimson. The lip of size proportionate—that is, small—shows more of the purpurata influence in its bright crimson disc.
L. × Yula inversa (L. purpurata × L. cinnabarina).—The same parentage but transposed. More than twice as large as the other and spreading, but thin. Sepals of the liveliest orange, petals agreeably tinged with purple. On the long narrow lip this pink shade deepens almost to red. Upon the whole, neither of them is to be commended for its own sake, but the brilliant orange of cinnabarina is retained so perfectly that both will prove valuable for hybridising.
C. × Our Queen (Catt. Mendelii × unknown).—Sepals and petals white, faintly flushed. In the throat, of brightest yellow, are several brown lines. The upper part of the lip is crimson, the disc purple.
L.-C. Empress of India (L. purpurata Brysiana × Catt. Dowiana).—Sepals and petals rose, tinged with violet at the ends, lip large, spreading, of the richest crimson-purple.
L.-C. Leucoglossa (Catt. Loddigesii × L.-C. fausta).—Rose-pink. Lip white, touched with yellow in the throat.
L.-C. Henry Greenwood (L.-C. Schilleriana × Catt. Hardyana).—Sepals and petals cream-coloured, tinged with pink, the latter veined with rosy purple. Lip purple with yellow throat.
L.-C. Canhamiana (Catt. Mossiae × L. purpurata).—White tinged with mauve. Lip crimson-purple, with a narrow white margin, crisped.
L.-C. Pallas superba (L. crispa × Catt. aurea).—Dark rose. Lip purple in the throat, golden in the disc, finely striped with crimson.
C. × Wendlandiana (Catt. Bowringiana × Catt. gigas).—Bright soft rose, lip purple-crimson with two yellow ‘eyes’ beneath the tube.
C. × Cecilia (Catt. Lawrenceana × Catt. Trianae).—Sepals and petals deep violet, throat buff changing to violet, disc purple.
C. × Louis Chaton (Catt. Trianae × Catt. Lawrenceana—the same parentage as Cecilia but reversed).—A most successful combination. Fine in shape, petals soft rosy mauve, sepals paler, and superb crimson lip, with the yellow of Trianae strongly expressed in the throat.
C. O’Brieniana.—A natural hybrid of Catt. Loddigesii and Catt. Walkeriana apparently; pale mauve; lip yellow.
L.-C. Miss Lily Measures (L.-C. Arnoldiana × Gottoiana).—Very large. Sepals and petals dark rose; lip rosy purple.
L.-C. velutino-elegans (Catt. velutina × L. elegans).—Sepals and petals white with a yellow tinge, veined with rose. At the throat an orange blotch. Lip darkest crimson with white veins.
I append a list of hybrid seedlings which have not yet flowered and therefore have received no name as yet. It will be useful only to those who practise the fascinating art of Hybridisation. But such are a multitude already, and each year their numbers swell.
Beyond the hybrids are twenty plants of white Cattleya intermedia. The owner of our collection was first among mortals, in Europe at least, to behold that marvel of chaste loveliness. Mr. Sander received a plant of intermedia from Brazil, which the collector labelled ‘white.’ Albino Cattleyas were few then, and Roezl alone perhaps ventured to imagine that every red species had a white sister. So they took little notice of the label at St. Albans. When Mr. Measures paid a visit, it was even shown to him as an example of the reckless statements forwarded by collectors. He, however, in a sporting mood, offered ten guineas, and Mr. Sander gladly accepted, but under a written proviso that he guaranteed nothing at all. And in due time Cattleya intermedia Parthenia appeared, to astonish and delight the universe. Several other albino forms have turned up since, all of which are represented here, but Parthenia remains the finest—snowy white, with a very long lip, which scarcely expands beyond the tube. That is to say, ‘the books’ describe it as snowy white. A careful observer will remark the faintest possible tinge of purple in the throat.
We have also a natural hybrid, Catt. Louryana, which the learned dubiously assign to intermedia alba × bicolor; all white saving the lip, which is mauve-pink with darker lines.
Among other albino rarities here is the charming L. praestans alba, pure as snow but for a plum-coloured edging round the upper portion of the lip.
L. Perrinii alba—stainless throughout. This exquisite variety also appeared for the first time in our collection.
L. Perrinii nivea—not less beautiful assuredly, though it has the imperfection, as an albino, of a pale pink labellum and a yellow throat.
Beyond these rise twenty-five stately plants of Angraecum sesquipedale, which we are learning to call Aeranthus sesquipedalis. There are those who do not value the marvel, though none but the blind surely can fail to admire it. In truth, like other giants, it does not readily lend itself to any useful purpose. I think I could design a wreath of Angraecum sesquipedale which would put jewelled coronets to shame; but for a bouquet or for the dress or for table decoration, it is equally unsuited. Wherefore the ladies give a glance of wonder at its ten-inch ‘tail’ and pass by, calling it, as I have heard with my own ears, a vegetable starfish. At Woodlands happily there are other flowers enough for a ‘regiment of women,’ as John Knox rudely put it, and they do not grudge the room which these noble plants occupy.