perfect smoothness, but also in its roots, which have fangs 

 slender and uniform in size, instead of being partly large and 

 succulent and partly resembling fibres. 



There can be little doubt that this and D. scapigera will 

 give birth to quite a new race of garden Dahlias, in which 

 dwarfness, so much to be desired, will not be an accidental 

 deviation from a natural tendency to acquire a lofty stature, 

 but will be a fixed habit, which may possibly and indeed pro- 

 bably increase till varieties shall have been secured whose 

 height when in full flower will not exceed a foot. 



In its present state this pretty plant grows about three 

 feet high, and requires the same management as the common 

 Dahlia. It flowers from the end of July until destroyed by 

 the frost in autumn. 



It answers remarkably well if treated as a half-hardy 

 annual, which is by far the easiest and best way to grow it, 

 as by saving the seed every season there is no necessity for 

 preserving the old roots, which are like those of the common 

 Dahlia, but much slenderer. 



