45 
October, 1916 
SOMETHING GOOD OUT OF MEXICO 
Not All Things Mexican Are Unstable: the Dahlia Has 
Originally the cactus dahlia re¬ 
sembled the flower of a well- 
known garden cactus, but it long 
since lost this similarity 
F OREIGN travel and the culture inci¬ 
dent thereto have never done more for 
anything, I am quite certain, than they have 
done for the dahlia family. It holds its 
head so high that no one ever suspects its 
kinship to one of the meanest, 
most ornery weeds in the land— 
the wretched beggar’s tick. This 
circumstance of forgotten rela¬ 
tionship is not without its 
parallels, however, and perhaps 
the less said about it in this case 
the better for our peace of mind. 
Some time before 1789 the 
wild dahlia was first found by 
Europeans either in Mexico, 
Central or South America. We 
are certain that some time prior 
to this year roots or seeds from 
the wild were first collected and 
sent to Europe and there propa¬ 
gated, for in 1789 dahlias were 
under cultivation in Europe. Of 
these early experiments it is said 
that though they were single 
flowers in the wild, they doubled 
the first year under cultivation 
or showed signs of doubling. 
The Dahlia Becoming 
Cultured 
Lasted More Than a Century 
GRACE TABOR 
by the Horticultural Society of England. 
Why there should have been this sudden 
“break,” as growers call this phenomenon, 
it is difficult to say. Perhaps it was the 
result of definite efforts on the part of the 
growers, and perhaps the hidden work of 
the years of care and cultivation began sud¬ 
denly to tell. The cooler climate was un¬ 
doubtedly a factor. In any case there set 
in an exciting time for those interested in 
the flower. In fifteen years more, the num¬ 
ber of varieties had mounted so rapidly that 
one grower alone offered over twelve hun¬ 
dred for sale. Just how many there are 
now it is difficult to say, but estimates put 
the number at something over three thou¬ 
sand—all sprung, please remember, from 
two Mexican, or possibly one Mexican and 
one South American, wild flowers! 
These primitive varieties are wild flowers 
of a simple, daisy-like form, showing eight 
rays in two layers, the inner ones set exactly 
at an angle of forty-five degrees with the 
outer or rear ones, thus giving the flower 
a star-like appearance. From these came 
into being the single, pompon, show and 
fancy types first; and then, with the find¬ 
ing of another kind of plant called dahlia 
Juarezii, after the Mexican president, the 
form known as the cactus type was de¬ 
ln the modern cactus class the 
dahlia exhibits a wide range of 
form. Contrast this flower with 
the one shown at the left 
veloped. This was not, however, until after 
the earlier and more formal dahlias had long 
been grown and widely distributed. 
Though very little is definitely known 
about their origin, it is claimed that all of 
the cactus dahlias sprang from 
a single root which a Dutch plant 
dealer or grower obtained from 
Mexico in 1875 or 6 or 7—no 
one knows just when. The plant 
flowered in 1879, at any rate, 
when it was taken note of by 
those interested and given the 
name just mentioned. Now the 
dahlia enthusiasts rejoiced, for 
at last they had a flower that 
promised some relief from the 
formal and stiff quilled types al¬ 
ready becoming tiresome. It is 
interesting to know that this 
form was called a “cactus” dah¬ 
lia because the first flowers re¬ 
sembled the flowers of a well- 
known variety of garden cactus 
—a flower brilliant scarlet in 
color and similar to the dahlia 
in form. Because of the many 
colors in which this type now 
grows, the name lacks meaning. 
Modern Classification 
A quarter of a century went 
by before anything remarkable 
happened, however, and it is just 
two years more than a century 
since dahlias began to climb to¬ 
ward the place they now oc¬ 
cupy in the flower world. In 
1814 we hear of a dozen or so 
good single-flowered forms, and 
some others showing the afore¬ 
mentioned “signs of doubling.’’ 
I hen suddenly a striking change 
and a marked doubling set in. 
and in another quarter of a cen¬ 
tury there were no fewer than 
sixty varieties known and prized 
Very different from its Mexican progenitors is the plant of 
to-day. The simple single flowers have been superseded by 
doubled and even quadrupled kinds 
Very arbitrary rules govern 
the culture of dahlias. For ex¬ 
ample, a show dahlia may be of 
one color, but a fancy dahlia 
must always be of two or more. 
Further, while a one-toned dah¬ 
lia whose rays are darkened a 
bit at their tips or edges may 
remain in the show class it must 
move out and be a fancy dahlia 
if the rays or edges are lighter 
than the body color of the 
flower. Perhaps these distinc¬ 
tions are rendered necessary by 
the vast number of kinds exist¬ 
ing in both classes, and by the 
