246 THE FLOWER-GARDEX. [CHAP. Tin. 



advancing in favour in this country; and about 

 1827, attention was further directed to it by a 

 paper in the Transactions of the Horticultural 

 Society of London, respecting the dwarf dahlias 

 raised in the garden of the late W. Wells, Esq., 

 at Redleaf, and it soon after became regularly 

 established as a florists' flower. From 1820 to 

 the present time several new species have been 

 introduced ; but they have all proved so inferior 

 in beauty to the varieties of D. variabilis, that 

 after a few seasons they have fallen into obli- 

 vion, or at best are only to be found in a few 

 botanic gardens. 



It is rather remarkable that the different spe- 

 cies of dahlia do not hybridise w 7 ell with each 

 other ; so that nearly all the numerous kinds 

 now in cultivation are varieties or cross-breeds 

 from D. variabilis, though their colours vary 

 from purple, crimson, rose-colour, pink, and 

 white, on the one hand, to yellow, orange, and 

 scarlet, on the other. Some of the scarlet kinds 

 have been raised from D. coccinea, but they 

 are seldom wdiat florists call perfect flowers; 

 and some with orange and buff shades have 

 been raised from D. Cervantesii. The anemone- 

 flowered dahlias were raised in Ireland from 

 D. astrantiseflora ; and the ranunculus and 

 globe-no wered dahlias in Paris, from the same 

 parent. These kinds are now, however, rarely 

 cultivated, as they are often deficient in the 

 points that florists consider necessary in a good 

 flower. To understand what these points are, 

 it must be remembered that florists' flowers are 

 of course in a highly artificial state, from the 

 extraordinary care bestowed on their cultiva- 



