da'hlta. 



7o 



da'hlta. 



over. This is the plant winch 

 the Italians call May, as we do the 

 Hawthorn. The French call both 

 species False Ebony, from the black- 

 ness of the wood ; which, however, 



is much darker in C. Laburnum 

 than in C. alptnus. Both kinds 

 will grow in any soil and situation, 

 but they do best in a deep sandy 

 loam, and a sheltered situation. 



D. 



Daboz v cia. — Ericacece. — Professor 

 Don's name for Andromeda Daboe- 

 cia, L., the Irish, or St. Daboec's 

 heath. It is quite hardy, but re- 

 quires a moist peaty soil. The spe- 

 cies has purple flowers ; but there is a 

 beautiful variety, the flowers of which 

 are white. 



Daffodil — See Narcissus. 



Da'hlia.— Compositcp. — The im- 

 portance that has within the last few 

 years attached to this genus would 

 render it easy to fill a volume with 

 descriptions of its various species and 

 varieties, and the details of their cul- 

 ture. Its history is also somewhat 

 curious, as, strange to say, though it 

 has become so great a favourite, and 

 is so universally cultivated, the history 

 of its introduction is very obscure. 

 It is generally said to have been in- 

 troduced by Lady Holland in 1804 ; 

 but the fact is, it had been introduced 

 many years before that period, and 

 was only brought from Madrid in 

 1804, by Lady Holland, who appa- 

 rently did not know that it was 

 already in the country. The first 

 kind of Dahlia known to Europeans, 

 D. superjtiia, Cav., (Z). variabilis, 

 Dec, Georgina pinnata, W.,) was 

 discovered in Mexico by Baron Hum- 

 boldt in 1789, and sent bv him to 

 Professor Cavanilles, of the Botanic 

 Garden, Madrid, who gave the genus 

 the name of Dahlia, in honour of the 

 Swedish professor Dahl. Cavanilles 

 sent a plant of it, the same year, to 

 the Marchioness of Bute, who was 

 very fond of flowers, and who kept it 

 in the greenhouse. From this species 

 nearly all the varieties known in the 



gardens have been raised ; as it seeds 

 freely,and varies very much when raised 

 from seed. In 1 802, D. frustranea, 

 Ait., (D. coccinea, Cav.,) was intro- 

 duced from France, in which country 

 it had been raised from Mexican 

 seeds. A few varieties have been 

 raised from this kind, but they are 

 much smaller than the others. It is 

 rather remarkable, that the two spe- 

 cies do not hybridize together; and 

 that D. superfiua or variabilis 

 should produce flowers of colours so 

 different as crimson, purple, white, 

 yellow, orange, and scarlet, without 

 hybridization. Among all the colours, 

 however, displayed by these varieties, 

 no flowers have yet appeared of blue, 

 and comparatively few of a pure 

 white. These two species, and their 

 varieties, were the only Dahlias known 

 in English gardens for many years ; 

 as, though a few kinds were intro- 

 duced from time to time from France 

 and Spain, yet as they did not hybrid- 

 ize with the others, and were rather 

 more tender, they were not generally 

 cultivated, and appear to have been 

 soon lost. Most of these have, however, 

 been reintroduced from Mexico, with 

 several new species, within the last 

 few years ; and there are now ten or 

 twelve distinct species, besides innu- 

 merable varieties of D. variabilis, to 

 be procured in England. The most 

 remarkable of the new species is the 

 tree Dahlia, D. excelsa, which is 

 said to grow in Mexico thirty feet 

 high, with a trunk thick in propor- 

 tion. The name of Georgina was 

 applied to the Dahlia by Willdenow ; 

 because the word Dahlia was thought 



