Tlti: CltLTTTATEB DAHLtA 35 



tliat tlie test refers to " Dalilia Pinnata, now commonly called 

 Pui'jJUi'ea " and that the three sheets bear these two names, placed as 

 synonymous. The name on the fourth sheet, Dahlia rosea, is followed 

 by the words "seemly a variety," and the text differentiates this from 

 *'th6 true Rosea of Cavanilles." The two specimens referred to 

 D coccined are mentioned by Buonaiuti under that name and as 

 D. Ci'ocafa, 



The history of the Holland House plants may be briefly sum- 

 marized from Buonaiuti's communication. The seeds were sent from 

 Spain by Lady Holland in May 1804?, and were at once sown ; one plant 

 followed in September of that year. In 1805 many Dahlias came up, 

 among which were the ** four species or varieties " ali-eady referred to. 

 The final note in the communication is dated July 10, 1806, at which 

 time " above a hundred plants of Dahlias [were] growing in various 

 parts of the gardens at Holland-House in the highest luxuriance." 



SILENE NUTANS AND S. DUBIA. 

 Br C. E. Salmon, F.L.S. 



Si>^cE my note upon these plants appeared in this Journal (1905, 

 p. 127), I have been able to give a little further study to the habits 

 of both, particularly as regards their characteristics at all seasons of 

 the year as they grow side by side in my garden. 



Without going into the question of synonymy, I may say that 

 the following observations refer to what I call " ^S*. nutans^'' the 

 Nottingham plant, agreeing with Eng. Bot. tab. 465 (vii. 1798), as 

 compared with examples of a more slender and delicate habit which 

 I suggested might be ^S*. duhia Herb, and which is probably quite as 

 frequent a form in Britain. 



In the first place, whilst realizing in 1905 that they were clearly 

 distinct, I had not gi-asped the fact that they could, at all events 

 whilst growing, be so easily separated at all times of the year. 

 Whilst resting in the winter, 8. nutans as compared with S. dubia 

 shows rosettes that are rather more compact, with leaves broader and 

 blunter in outline, more hairy and with shorter petioles ; the entire 

 foliage is of a darker green and invariably (?) tinged with a reddish- 

 brown colour. In 8. duhia, the leaves are longer petioled than those 

 of nutans, narrower, more acute, less hairy, and the foliage of a 

 brighter green, tending towards yellow, never (?) tinted as mentioned 

 above. 



During the flowering period, many points were noted (op. cit. 

 p. 128) to distinguish the two plants, but perhaps insufficient stress 

 was laid upon the colour of the petals ; this in duhia is of a yellowish 

 tint ("flores flavescentes " of Herbich) which, noticeable even when 

 the plant is in bud or .when the petals are curled during daytime, 

 contrasts strongly, wlien the flowers are expanded in the evening, with 

 the practicallv pure-white petals of nutans. 



j> 2 



