298 THE COTTAGE 
In this the season of Dahlias, we may appropriately 
bring before our readers the characteristics which we 
agree in thinking are marks of excellency in this queen 
of autumnal flowers. In 184T, aided by Mr. Turner, of 
Chalvey, near Slough, we published a small volume on 
this flower; and from its pages, almost without altera¬ 
tion, we republish the following observations :— 
The first discovered species of the genus is that 
known now to botanists as Dahlia superflua, or D. va- 
riahilis. It was found in 1789, and named by Cavanilles, 
a Spanish botanist, in honour of Dahl, a Swedish pupil 
of Linnaeus. Some objections were raised to the name 
of Dahlia, because it too nearly resembles that before 
given to a very different genus, Dalea; and to obviate 
the difficulty, Willdenow, in 1803, gave to the species 
the names of Georgina pinnata, but though these were 
adopted by a few distinguished botanists, the prior 
applied names have properly prevailed. 
The plants from which three new supposed species 
of dahlia were described, were sent from the Botanic 
Garden at Mexico to the Royal Garden at Madrid, 
where one, called by Professor Cavanilles Dahlia pin¬ 
nata, flowered in October, 1789; his D. rosea and D. 
coccinea produced flowers a few years afterwards. They 
do not seem to have been successfully treated, for with 
him they attained the height of three or four feet only, 
and did not flower till October. In 1802, plants of each 
were transferred from Madrid to the Jardin des Plantes 
at Paris, where they grew so well as to enable Mous. 
Thouin, in 1804, not only to describe and figure them, 
but also to treat on their cultivation. In May, 1804, 
seeds of the three kinds were sent from Madrid by Lady 
Holland to Mr. Buonainti, Lord Holland’s librarian in 
England; from these good plants were produced, one 
of which, the D. pinnata, flowered in September follow¬ 
ing, and was figured by Andrews in the “Botanist’s 
Repository.” In the succeeding year, plants of the D. 
rosea and the D. coccinea also flowered in the gardens 
of Holland House. 
Though this importation of the seeds was the most 
successful as to its produce (for from it nearly all the 
plants then in our gardens were obtained), yet the 
original introduction of the first species was (on the 
authority of the Hortus Kewensis) from Spain, in 1789, 
by the Marchioness of Bute; hut it is probable that the 
plant so introduced was soon after lost, as we do not 
find any further notice taken of it. The other species, 
then called Coccinea, was actually flowered by Mr. John 
Frazer, who is said to have obtained it from France 
in 1802, the same year in which it was produced in 
the French gardens from seed procured from Madrid. 
It also appears that in the autumn of 1803, Mr. Wood¬ 
ford flowered, at Vauxhall, a plant of Cavanilles’ D. rosea, 
which he had obtained from Paris; so that, indepen¬ 
dently of one introduced by the Marchioness of Bute, in 
1789, it seems that both species had flowered in this 
country before the seeds were transmitted by Lady 
Holland. 
At Madrid they were a long time in the Royal 
Garden without any indications of change; and after 
GARDENER. [August 15. 
they were spread through Europe some years elapsed 
before any extensive variation took place. 
Mons. De Candolle, it is said, obtained from Madrid 
the plants which he cultivated at Montpelier, about the j 
same time they were sent to Paris. His “ Memoir” was 
printed in 1810, and he therein describes only five 
varieties of D. superflua —viz., Rubra, Purpurea, Lila- 
eina, Pallida, and Flavescens, besides three varieties of 
D. Frustranea —viz., Coccinea, Crocea, and Flava. Pro¬ 
bably, when he wrote, he had not obtained any double 
flowers, though he evidently expected such would soon 
be produced. 
Mons. Otto, as early as 1800, obtained from Dresden, 
for the Royal Garden at Berlin, a plant of the D. Pal¬ 
lida of the “ Hortus Berolinensis;” and in 1802 a plant 
of the D. purpurea, of the same work, was sent to him 
from Madrid; but he had no new varieties from his 
own seed till 1806; and the chief varieties were raised 
between 1809 and TH17. About 1813, M. Otto began 
to pay more attention to their cultivation, and improved 
their kinds by cross impregnations. The first double 
flower he possessed came from Stutgard; but a com¬ 
plete double one of his own flowered in 1809; it was 
dark red, exactly similar to that from Stutgard, but had, 
at first, blown only semi-double. Three more double 
ones were raised in 1815 and 1816, and he had in 1820 
no more than six with double flowers. A pure white 
single one was given to him in 1809, and in 1810 he 
raised another white one himself. He mentions, that 
in the Catalogues of the Nurseries at Berlin from 80 to 
100 sorts are enumerated for sale, but he considers the 
really good ones to be about thirty. 
In our own country we had an early promise of great 
success, and had we hit upon the right plan of manage¬ 
ment, in keeping the plants when produced, there is no 
doubt but we should have been as equally successful as 
the continental gardeners in obtaining varieties. Mr. 
Buonainti saved seeds from the plants raised at Holland 
House in 1804, the produce of which seeds he states to 
have given him, in the succeeding year, nine varieties 
of that which was called D. pinnata, two of which were 
double, one with lilac and the other with dark purple 
flowers; of the single flowered plants, some weie cei- 
tainly dark coloured, four figures were published from 
them at the time; the paler coloured varieties were 
chiefly considered as belonging to what was then called 
D. rosea ', he had also two varieties of D. coccinea, the 
original deep coloured one and a paler one, which, 
though called by him Crocata, was the pale yellow va¬ 
riety, as is apparent from the figure of it published in 
the “ Paradisus Londineusis.” 
Mr. Salisbury also obtained several varieties from 
the seeds which he received from Holland House in 
1806; these he had particularly noticed in his paper 
printed in the first volume of the iransactious ot the 
Horticultural Society. In the fifth volume of the second 
edition of the Hortus Kewensis, which was published in 
1813, the varieties of D. superflua there named are Pur¬ 
purea, Lilacina, and Nana ; the latter being taken from 
a double variety, figured in Andrew s “ Botanical Repo- 
