446 



DAHLIA 



DAHLIA 



about 1881, and for several years thereafter several 

 hundred forms were kept distinct, and they were made 

 the chief feature of the European shows. It is exceed- 

 ingly interesting to get seeds of wild Dahlias from 

 Mexico. They give flowers like the star-shaped one in 

 Fig. 663. When the Dahlia first came into cultivation 

 its rays were relatively long, slender, acuminate, 

 notched at the end, and with such wide spaces between 

 the tips of the rays as to give the flower the stellate 

 appearance seen in Fig. 663. In the course of the evo- 

 lution of the single type, the gardeners retained the 

 most regular and symmetrical forms. Single Dahlias 

 with always and only 8 rays were preserved. The rays 

 of Dahlias became broader and rounder, as in Fig. 06*0, 

 until finally in pedigree varieties they closed up the 

 vacant spaces, and the flower presents to the eye one 

 unbroken picture one concentrated impression of a 

 single color. The same mental ideals have produced the 



661. A Dahlia of the Single Cactus type (X %) 



rose-petaled Geraniums and the shouldered Tulips. In 

 a high bred single Dahlia there are no minute teeth or 

 notches at the tips of the rays. 



In the wild Dahlia, no matter what the color of the 

 ray may be, the base of the ray is usually yellow; some- 

 times this yellow is very objectionable. Two different 

 policies have been pursued in the matter suppression 

 and encouragement. Most of the single Dahlias of high 

 pedigree have rays of uniform coloration with no sec- 

 ondary color at the base, but a few have a distinct ring 

 of color at the base, often called an "eye or crown," 

 which is sometimes yellow and rarely red or some other 

 .color. Usually the rays of a single Dahlia are spread 

 out horizontally, sometimes they bend back, and rarely 

 they bend inwards and form a cup-shaped flower. These 

 three forms can doubtless be separated and fixed dur- 

 ing those periods when the interest in the Single type 

 warrants it. 



Single Dahlias are likely to lose some of their rays 

 after a day or two in a vase. In cutting them it is well 

 to select the younger flowers. A vigorous shake often 

 makes the older ones drop their rays. It is an easy 

 matter to keep the seeds from forming and save the 

 strength of the plant for the production of flowers. 



There are three modern types of minor importance, 

 the Single Cactus, Pompon Cactus and Tom Thumb. 

 The Single Cactus type differs from the common single 

 type, in having rays with recurved margins, which give 

 a free and spirited appearance to the tis. Instead of 

 spreading out horizontally, the rays often curve inward, 

 forming a cup-shaped flower. This type originated with 

 E. J. Lowe, Chepstow. Eng., was developed by Dobbie 

 & Co. about 1891, and was first disseminated in 1894. 

 The Single Cactus Dahlias are very novel, interesting 

 and pretty. There should be a Pompon Cactus form to 

 connect the Single Cactus and Cactus types, just as the 

 Pompon is intermediate between the Single and Show 

 types. The writer has seen only two varieties of this 

 type, "Pompon Cactus" and "Little Cactus." They have 

 small fls., with flat, reflexed rays. The Tom Thumb 

 type is a miniature race of round-rayed single Dahlias, 

 which grow from 12-18 inches high, and are used for 

 bedding. The type originated in England with T. W. 

 Girdlestone, and was developed and introduced by Cheal 

 & Sons. The "green" Dahlia can hardly be called an 

 important type, but it is an interesting abnormal 

 form, in which the rays are partially or wholly sup- 

 pressed, and the chief feature of interest is a confused 

 mass of green stuff, not resembling petals at all, but 

 evidently a multiplication of the outer involucral scales, 

 which, in the Dahlia, are green, leafy bracts. This form 

 is essentially unstable and unhealthy. It can never be 

 propagated extensively. This freak was pictured as 

 long ago as 1845 in G.C., p. 626. Several different varie- 

 ties have probably degenerated into this condition. See 

 F.S. 19:1994. Another interesting variation, which 

 hardly ranks in present importance with the 9 types 

 contrasted below, is the laciniated form, which makes a 

 very pretty and novel though rather formal effect. 

 Examples are Germania Nova, Mrs. A. W. Tait and its 

 yellow variety among large double forms, and White 

 Aster among the Pompons. In these cases, the notches 

 at the tips of the rays, instead of being minute and in- 

 conspicuous, are deepened so much that they give the 

 laciniated effect. At present this form is available in a 

 very narrow range of colors. It is not probable that it 

 will be an important factor in producing chrysanthe- 

 mum-like forms. Another form which baffles descrip- 

 tion, but is nevertheless very distinct, is that of Grand 

 Duke Alexis. It is nearer the Show type than any other, 

 but is perhaps best classed with the Cactus Hybrid sec- 

 tion, simply because it seems advisable to keep the 

 Show type the most sharply defined of all. It is to be 

 hoped that the form of Grand Duke Alexis can be re- 

 peated in all the leading colors. Grand Duke Alexis is 

 a very flat flower, and the rays are remarkably folded, 

 leaving a round hole at the top of each. About midway 

 between Grand Duke Alexis and the show or cupped type 

 is an interesting form, the "quilled" Dahlia, a name 

 which is necessary, perhaps, though unfortunate. In 

 A. D. Livoni (which is one of the most popular of all 

 Dahlias, and the nearest approach to a pure pink un- 

 tainted by any suggestion of purple derivation) the rays 

 are rather tightly folded for about two-thirds of their 

 length, leaving a round hole at the tip as in Grand Duke 

 Alexis, but giving a peculiar whorled effect, which 

 plainly shows the spiral arrangement of the successive 

 tiers of rays. Among Pompons, Blumenf alter is an ex- 

 ample of this rosette-like or quilled form, and many 

 colors are procurable. However, the word "quilled" usu- 

 ally suggests a long tube with a flared opening, whereas 

 in the form described above the margins of the ray are 

 merely rolled tightly together, but not grown together 

 into a thin, seamless tube. Perhaps the most important 

 variation that has not yet appeared in the Dahlia, is the 

 wonderful elongation of the disk florets into long, thin, 

 variously colored tubes which have produced such 

 charming effects in the China Aster and have culmi- 

 nated in the marvelous grace of such Chrysanthemums 

 as lora, Northern Lights and Lillian B. Bird. The Dah- 

 lia may not be denied such possibilities, for in G.C. III. 

 20:339 (1896) anew Dahlia was described in which the 

 quills are really tubes for two-thirds of their length. 

 May we hope for some striking development of this 

 form within our generation ? 



The main types of Dahlias may perhaps be distin- 

 guished more clearly by the following scheme : 



