954 



DAHLIA 



DAHLIA 



seems to have been the same as that between "self- 

 colored" and "variegated" flowers in general. Lately, 

 for purposes of exhibition in prize competitions, the 

 following arbitrary distinction has been adopted: A 

 Show dahlia (Fig. 1210) is often of one color; but if 

 the edges of the rays are darker than the ground-color, 

 the variety may be exhibited in the Show section. A 

 Fancy dahlia (Fig. 1211) always has two or more 

 colors, and if the rays are striped or if the edges are 

 lighter than the ground-color, the variety must be 

 exhibited in the Fancy section. The two types reached 

 full perfection certainly by 1840, and after that date 

 the improvements were mostly in matters of secondary 

 importance. Most of the longest-lived varieties belong 

 to the Show and Fancy type. These types held full 

 popularity until about 1879, when the first Cactus 

 dahlia appeared in England with a promise of new and 

 freer forms. This form is 

 the one which is perhaps 

 farthest removed from 

 nature, and it is probably 

 so highly esteemed largely 

 because the most work has 

 been spent on it. 



1208. Dahlia coccinea. 



Redrawn from the Botanical 



Magazine for 1804. 



A reaction against formalism in all departments of 

 life and thought set in about the time of the American 

 Civil War. It was in the sixties that the Japanese 

 chrysanthemums did much to emancipate the floral 

 world. With dahlias the reaction came much later and 

 has proceeded more slowly. The first Cactus dahlia 

 was so called because of its resemblance in form, but 

 chiefly in color, to the brilliant crimson-flowered Cereus 

 speciosissimus, a well-known garden plant (which is 

 known in the present work as Heliocerus speciosus). 

 The name is now highly inappropriate because the 

 color range of the pure Cactus type has been extended 

 to include all of the important well-defined colors of 

 which the dahlia seems capable. The original Cactus 

 dahlia was named Dahlia Juarezii, after President 

 Juarez, the "Washington of Mexico." It was pic- 

 tured for the first time in the Gardeners' Chronicle for 

 1879, and this interesting picture is here reproduced 

 in a reduced size in Fig. 1207. The type is still culti- 

 vated under the same name and in all essentials seems 

 to be unchanged. Forms of the Cactus dahlia are 

 shown in Figs. 1212, 1213. 



The origin of the Cactus type, as of all the other 

 types of dahlias, is uncertain, and our efforts to 

 secure full and definite information upon some of the 

 most interesting points may perhaps always be baffled. 



A Dutch dealer secured a root from Mexico that pro- 

 duced one plant which is the parent of all the Cactus 

 forms. It is not known whether the seed which may 

 have produced the original root came from a wild or a 

 cultivated flower. It has been said that seedlings of D. 

 Juarezii have produced in cultivation forms approach- 

 ing the Show type of D. rosea. The reverse process is 

 also said to have taken place, but full, authoritative 

 and convincing statements are wanting. In the garden, 

 D. Juarezii is exceedingly distinct from the florists' 

 forms of D. rosea. It is usually a slenderer, taller and 

 longer-jointed plant, with much handsomer and more 

 delicate foliage, the leaves being narrower than in 

 the coarse and almost ugly foliage of the old forms. 

 It has another peculiarity of growth, which is still one 

 of the most serious defects in the true Cactus type: 

 the plants tend to hide some of the flowers beneath 

 their foliage. This comes about in a curious way. At 

 a node between two young leaves there commonly 

 appear, at about the same time three new growths; 

 the middle one develops into a flower with a naked 

 stalk only 2 or 3 inches long, while the side shoots 

 quickly overtop it and repeat the same threefold 

 arrangement. The other most serious objection to the 

 true Cactus type is that it does not stand shipment 

 well and does not last so long as a cut-flower as the 

 Show dahlias. 



The Decorative or Cactus Hybrid types are numer- 

 ous, and their popularity is more modern. They have 

 been largely seedlings from show flowers. Their rays 

 are rarely, if ever, recurved at the margins. All the 

 other types of dahlias are well defined, and a single 

 picture of each one will represent its type with suffi- 

 cient exactness. No one picture, however, can give any 

 conception of the great variety of forms included in 

 this more or less open horticultural section. The name 

 Cactus Hybrid means practically "miscellaneous," and 

 is analogous to the "Japanese" section of chrysanthe- 

 mums. It is on this section and the pure Cactus type 

 that the greatest hopes for the future of the dahlia 

 are based. 



Dahlias considered to be of true Decorative type are 

 those possessing broad flat and nearly straight petals, 

 arranged somewhat irregularly; but the flowers are 

 not spherical in shape like the Show dahlia, but are 

 inclined to be flat and massive, and are always full to 

 the center. Dahlias of this character score a greater 

 number of points at exhibitions. 



The Colossal dahlia is the basis of much discussion, 

 especially at exhibitions, the cause of debate being 

 that these dahlias are in reality not classified; that is, 

 the same variety is exhibited in one display as a Show 

 dahlia, and in the next as a Decorative dahlia; but in 

 reality there should be a Colossal class for this type of 

 dahlia. This type, if it may be so called, has large 

 cupped but not quilled rays or petals; the flowers are 

 5 inches and over in diameter, and spherical in shape; 

 they therefore partake of both types, but are sufficiently 

 different to spoil the harmony, when exhibited in either 

 the Show or Decorative class. "Le Colosse" is the first 

 of this type of dahlia, and hybridization has given a 

 large number of seedlings, which are almost identical 

 in form, shape, and size, the most prominent being 

 at present American Beauty, Giant Purple or Royal 

 Purple, J. K. Alexander, Surpasse Colosse, and Janne 

 (Yellow) Colosse. 



The Pompon type is a small form of the Show and 

 Fancy types. It has the same colors and the same form, 

 but the flowers are smaller and more abundant. As 

 a rule, the smaller the flowers the prettier and more 

 individual they are. The larger they are, the more 

 they suffer by comparison with the Show type. Per- 

 haps their greatest point is their productiveness. When 

 profusion is the main idea, not great size and quality, 

 the Pompons are the favorite type of dahlia for cut- 

 flowers. 



