DAHLIA SUPERFLUA-DAHLIA. 
CLASS, SYNGENESIA ; ORDER, POLYGAMIA SUPERFLUA. 
NATURAL ORDER, COMPOSITAE. 
Gen. Char. Root, tuberous. Leaves, broad, lanceolate, cut 
on the edges. Spec. Char. Generally six feet in height, with 
broad foliage and large flowers. Rays fertile. 
The generic name of this plant was bestowed by Linnseus in 
honor of Andrew Dahl, a Swedish botanist. It contains few 
species, but such has been its reception by the public, that garden- 
ers have bestowed an immense amount of pains in its cultivation, 
and the varieties produced in consequence, are almost endless. 
Phillips remarks, that this splendid addition to the autumnal 
parterres of the Old World was unknown till 1789, when it was 
sent to Spain from Mexico, where it grows wild, in sandy meadows. 
It was lost at first in England, but some roots and seeds beinor 
afterwards obtained from France, that country partook of the 
Dahlia-mania of the nineteenth century, which although less dan- 
gerous in its effects, was not less general than the Tulip-mania by 
which Europe was so much affected in the seventeenth century; 
and it was finally left to English capital and perseverance to 
illuminate the northern part of the globe, by the full brilliancy of 
these floral luminaries, which now shine as conspicuously in our 
groves and gardens as gas in our cities. The ingenuity of the 
florist has never appeared more conspicuous than in the treatment 
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