336 LUTHER BURBANK 



This flower, which was introduced into Eng- 

 land in the year 1789 by the Marchioness of 

 Bute, has the general form of a very large daisy 

 and it resembles numerous familiar wild sun- 

 flowerlike composites, except that its floral 

 envelope is dull scarlet with a yellow center, 

 instead of being yellow or white. 



We have seen many illustrations of the effect 

 of transplanting a plant from one region to 

 another. The dahlia furnishes yet another 

 example. Brought from subtropical Mexico to 

 the relatively cold climate of England, it soon 

 showed the effects of altered climatic conditions. 

 The tendency to vary was accentuated, and when 

 in due course the plant was hybridized with other 

 species brought from the same region, the 

 hybrids took on such modifications as presently 

 to produce races of dahlias so utterly divergent 

 from the parent forms as to be almost unrecog- 

 nizable. 



Not even a botanist would associate the wild 

 composite with its eight flat florets of ordinary 

 shape and appearance, with the relatively gigan- 

 tic rose-shaped flower made up of an infinite 

 number of tubular florets packed together into a 

 solid head. 



The colors of the flower have been correspond- 

 ingly modified, although the original red and 



