io6 



BuivLKTiN 128. 



of two sizes. How much better would it be to have thirty pure, 

 distinct, single colors in forty different forms of expression ! 



There was not a single new or original idea in the evolution of 

 the dahlia until 1873 at the very earliest, and whatever freedom 

 or grace the dahlias now have is traceable to a single plant that 



26. — Gra7id Duke Alexis. A large dahlia of peculiar form. 



bloomed for the first time that year. Instead of short, stiff, arti- 

 ficially formed rays, this flower had long, loose, flat rays with 

 pointed or twisted ends and the peculiar red that is associated 

 with cacti. This variety was nzxrii^^ Jiiarezii, in honor of Juarez, 

 President of Mexico, and first offered for sale in 1874 by a Dutch 

 merchant. This was the parent of the so-called cactus dahlias, 

 a name which seems far-fetched now-a-days. It was the color 



