THE ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE CACTUS DAHLIA. 407 



THE ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE CACTUS DAHLIA. 



By Chas. Geo. Wya tt. 



[September 10, I'JOl.] 



The origin and development of the Cactus Dahlia, the subject upon which 

 I have been asked to speak, is one of considerable interest, not only fronri 

 its being the section of the great Dahlia family which to-day meets with 

 universal admiration, but as being quite a modern — I might almost say 

 quite an unexpected — development of a flower which has been with us 

 considerably over a century. No one a few years back, on looking at the 

 Dahlia over which our forefathers showed such remarkable enthusiasm 

 some sixty or seventy years ago, would have thought it possible that it 

 could be so transformed into the totally different character represented 

 by a really good Cactus Dahlia of to-day — a flower of extreme beauty, of 

 graceful form, and, I think I am right in saying, of a wider scope of colour- 

 ing than is to be met with in any other flower in the whole realm of 

 horticulture. And not the least remarkable fact about this transforma- 

 tion is the short space of time in which it has been accomplished, namely, 

 within twenty years. What eccentric forms and colours it will develop 

 before another twenty years are past is the object of much speculation on 

 the part of those who are working amongst Dahlias and are noting the 

 various forms which the new seedlings year by year exhibit. 



Before proceeding to consider the origin of the Cactus Dahlia as we 

 have it to-day, I should like to say a few words on the name by which it 

 has come to be known, a name it will be most difficult to alter now, but 

 which everyone must agree is a misnomer and in every way unsatisfactory, 

 especially in the light of future developments. A really good Cactus 

 Dahlia of to-day is most un-Cactus-like, and of course has no affinity what- 

 ever to the family of Cacti ; so that although I must speak of the flower 

 before us as the " Cactus " Dahlia in order to be understood, I very much 

 wish some inventive mind would give us a better and a more appropriate 

 name, a name worthy of the flower, and under which we might be able to 

 include the newer varieties of diverse form which will be introduced from 

 time to time, and about which I shall have a few words to say later on. 

 Were it not that the word " decorative " has, strange to say, already been 

 applied to the clasps which, if any, would most appropriately bear the 

 prenomen " Cactus," this name Avould have been a very good one for the 

 flowers under consideration, since they are in every sense decorative, 

 whilst the at present so-called " decoratives " are the most Cactus-like. 

 Whether we shall ever succeed in exchanging the two names I cannot 

 tell, but if it is to be done the sooner a move is made in this direction the 

 easier it will be to accomplish it. The only other name which occurs to 

 me as at all suitable (other than the exchange I have just mentioned) is 

 the word "British," for it is a notable fact that the development of this 

 particular section has been almost if not entirely British produce, foreign 

 introductions as yet falling very far short of the high standard necessary 



