October 15, 1890.] 



Garden and Forest. 



501 



Fig. 64. — Gerbera Jamesoni (reduced one-third). — See page 500. 



were known to Hernandez in 1615 it was not until the year 

 1 789 that the plant was introduced from Mexico, by means of 

 seeds, to the Botanic Garden at Madrid. A few of these 

 seeds were secured by Lord Bute and sent to England, 

 where they flowered in 1790. The plants were, however, soon 

 lost, owing to the mistaken idea that they required stove 

 treatment. About this time this species received the name 

 of Dahlia coccinea, the generic name being a compliment to 

 the botanist, Andreas Dahl. According to Salisbury a second 

 species, D. variabilis, was introduced in 1804 by Lady Holland, 

 who sent the seeds from Madrid. Its behavior under cultiva- 

 tion is delightfully described by Salisbury in his paper read 

 before the Horticultural Society in 1808 and printed in the 

 first volume of the Transactions. The names he uses are : 

 D. sambucifoliaiov D. variabilis and D. bidentifolia for what 

 is now called D. coccinea. 



The work of the florists began in 

 1813 in the Botanical Garden at Lou- 

 vain, where a series of double- 

 flowered forms were raised by Don- 

 kelaar. In England the Dahlia ap- 

 pears to have reached the height of 

 its popularity about 1850, after which 

 it began to decline until the found- 

 ing of the Dahlia Society in 1870, 

 which brought about a revival of 

 the Dahlia amongst popular garden- 

 flowers. In 1872 an additional inter- 

 est and value were given to Dahlias 

 by the introduction of D. Juarezii, 

 the Cactus Dahlia. It was obtained 

 by accident, so it is reported, from 

 Mexico by a Dutch nurseryman, with 

 whom it flowered in 1874. Two or 

 three years afterward it was in the 

 possession of the enterprising Mr. 

 Cannell, who showed flowers of it 

 at one of the horticultural meetings. 

 It is probably of hybrid origin, or, 

 at any rate, the production of the 

 garden rather than of nature. There 

 are now many varieties and crosses 

 between it and the show Dahlias, 

 but few of them, if any, surpass it 

 either in brilliancy of color or in 

 shape. D. coccinea has flowers three 

 inches across, with a large yellow 

 disk surrounded by a single row of 

 scarlet, oblong ray-florets. D. vari- 

 abilis, in some of its forms, is not 

 unlike D. coccinea, but it shows con- 

 siderable variety in the size and form 

 of its flowers even in a wild state. 

 Other species which have recently 

 been used by breeders of Dahlias 

 are D. Merckii [D. glabrata) and D. 

 gracilis. The characters of these 

 four are traceable in the single 

 Dahlias of to-day. 



It is recorded in the Floricultural 

 Cabinet for 1858 that a figure of a 

 distinctly double Dahlia occurs in 

 an old work on the natural history 

 of Mexico published at Rome in 

 1 65 1. So far, however, as the double 

 Dahlias of European gardens except 

 D. Juarezii and its forms are con- 

 cerned, they appear to have been 

 first bred by Donkelaar, as above 

 stated. The single Dahlia has only 

 recently found favor in gardens. 

 The sole object of the breeders of 

 these plants in the old days was, 

 no doubt, to get away from the sin- 

 gle flowered varieties as far as pos- 

 sible. Within the last ten years or 

 so all this has been changed, and 

 now for every one who admires and 

 grows the double flowered varie- 

 ties there are twenty who prefer the 

 single ones. 



I have only recently noticed some 

 of the most striking of the Dahlias 

 grown in England at the present 

 time. The following were awarded 

 certificates by the Floral Committee: 



Eldorado (Show), very full, deep crimson in color. 



Othello (Pompon), a medium-sized flower, colored bright 

 crimson. 



Mikado (Pompon), a small flowered kind, white edged with 

 crimson. 



Comedian (Fancy), dull orange, striped and flaked with 

 crimson and edged with purple. 



Beauty of Arundel (Cactus), crimson with maroon edges, a 

 good, bold flower of attractive colors. 



Centennial, a large double flower, colored magenta, with 

 deep crimson edges. 



Melita (Pompon-Cactus), small flowers, with the florets 

 pointed as in Juarezii, crimson tipped with white. 



Yellow A. W. Tait (decorative), a bright, clear, yellow flower 

 of special value as an effective border plant. 



Daisy (Pompon), yellow, with deeper shade on tips of petals. 



