The statements following I
leave unaltered, because they are given by Messrs. Veitch, our oldest
authority, in the last edition of their book. But at the Temple Show
this year Norman C. Cookson, Esq., exhibited _Catt. William Murray_,
offspring of _Catt. Mendellii x Catt. Lawrenceana_, a lovely flower
which gained a first class certificate. It was only four years old.
The quickest record as yet is _Calanthe Alexanderii_, with which Mr.
Cookson won a first-class certificate of the Royal Horticultural
Society. It flowered within three years of fertilizing. As a genus,
perhaps, Dendrobiums are readiest to show. Plants have actually been
"pricked out" within two months of sowing, and they have bloomed within
the fourth year. Phajus and Calanthe rank next for rapid development.
Masdevallia, Chysis, and Cypripedium require four to five years, Lycaste
seven to eight, Loelia and Cattleya ten to twelve. These are Mr.
Veitch's calculations in a rough way, but there are endless exceptions,
of course. Thus his _Loelia triophthalma_ flowered in its eighth
season, whilst his _Loelia caloglossa_ delayed till its nineteenth.
The genus _Zygopetalum_, which plays odd tricks in hybridizing, as I
have mentioned, is curious in this matter also. _Z. maxillare_ crossed
with _Z. Mackayi_ demands five years to bloom, but _vice versa_ nine
years. There is a case somewhat similar, however, among the Cypripeds.
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