BUD VARIATION IN DAHLIAS 



A. I). SiiAMKL, Riverside, California. 



DAHLIAS arc propagated com- 

 mercially l)y cuttings. They are 

 sometimes propagated by divi- 

 sion of the roots and by grafts. 

 In a very limited way, mostly eperi- 

 mentally, they are grown from seed. 



There are a very large number of 

 varieties of the dahlia in cultivation in 

 the United States and abroad. Wilhelm 

 Miller states, in Bailey's Cyclopedia of 

 Horticulture, that over 3,000 different 

 names of dahlia varieties have been 

 published in catalogues. In this re- 

 spect the dahlia resembles the chrysan- 

 themum of which a very great number 

 of varieties are listed in commercial 

 catalogues. 



Some of the authors of discussions 

 of dalilia varieties seem to have fallen 

 into the error of assuming that the 

 numerous varieties must of necessity 

 have originated from seedlings. Such 

 is not the case. The writer believes 

 tliat bud variation has been responsible 

 for the origin of many of the most 

 valuable varieties of dahlias. Here 

 again, the writer believes that the 

 dahlia resembles the chrysanthemum. 

 As pointed out by Cramer a great 

 part of the cultivated varieties of 

 chrysanthemums have originated from 

 bud variations. The commercial meth- 

 ods of propagation of the dahlia and 

 the chrysanthemum are similar. In 

 both cases variable i)lants arising from 

 cuttings have Ijcen jjropagated by grow- 

 ers. The beautiful and striking varia- 

 tions have been multiplied by the use 

 of cuttings and introduced as distinct 

 varieties. 



Darwin slates under his discussion 

 of J>ud V'ai"iation. "Dahlias propagated 

 by tubers imder the hot climate of St. 

 Domingo vary much; Sir R. Schom- 

 burgk gives the case of the 'Puitterfly 



362 



varitt}" which the second year produced 

 on the same plant double and single 

 flowers ; here white petals edged with 

 maroon ; there of a uniform deep 

 maroon. Mr. Bree also mentions a 

 plant 'which bore two different kinds 

 of self-coloured flowers, as well as a 

 third kind which partook of both 

 colors beautifully intermixed.' (1832.j 

 Another case is described of a dahlia 

 with purple flowers which bore a white 

 flower streaked with purple." (1842 

 and 1850.) It can be seen from the 

 above statement that bud variation in 

 the dahlia is no new or recent 

 l)henomenon. 



From a recent inquiry (1918) 

 amongst Southern California dahlia 

 growers striking bud variations in 

 dahlia })lants propagated from cuttings, 

 are said to be of common and frequent 

 occurrence. Occasionally, two or more 

 kinds of flowers occur in the same 

 plant. In many cases local gardeners 

 have isolated the interesting and valu- 

 able bud variations of the dahlia and 

 pro|)agated them as new varieties. 



rile facts are. that all <^f the varieties 

 (jf local origin which the writer has 

 investigated have been originally dis- 

 covered as variable plants, or branches 

 i;f plants, in plantings of established 

 varieties. 'J'herefore, they have orig- 

 inated from ])ud variations. It seems 

 likely that a great many of the estab- 

 lished varieties have originated in the 

 same way, as is apparent from the 

 manner of propagation. Therefore, bud 

 variation has been a most important 

 factor in the improvement of the 

 dahlia. 



One of the striking bud variations of 

 dalilia plants observed by the writer 

 this season in Riverside is shown in 

 Figs. 11 and 12. The name of the 



