Messrs. Veitch state that
they rarely observed one among the myriads of plants that have passed
through their hands. With some species, however, it is not by any means
so uncommon. When Messrs. Thompson, of Clovenfords, bought a quantity of
the first _Cyp. Spicerianum_ which came upon the market, they found a
number of capsules, and sowed them, obtaining several hundred fine
plants. Pods are often imported on _Cyp. insigne_ full of good seed.
In the circumstances enumerated we have the explanation of an
extraordinary fact. Hybrids or natural species of Cypripediums
artificially raised are stronger than their parents, and they produce
finer flowers. The reason is that they get abundance of food in
captivity, and all things are made comfortable for them; whilst Nature,
anxious to be rid of a form of plant no longer approved, starves and
neglects them.
The same argument enables us to understand why Cypripeds lend themselves
so readily to the hybridizer. Darwin taught us to expect that species
which can rarely hope to secure a chance of reproduction will learn to
make the process as easy and as sure as the conditions would admit--that
none of those scarce opportunities may be lost. And so it proves.
Orchidaceans are apt to declare that "everybody" is hybridizing
Cypripeds nowadays. At least, so many persons have taken up this
agreeable and interesting pursuit that science has lost count of the
less striking results.
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