Dahlia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Dahlia (disambiguation).

iDahlia

Dahlia 'Dahlstar Sunset Pink'

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Asterales
Family:	Asteraceae
Genus:	Dahlia

Species

30 species, 20,000 cultivars

Dahlia is a genus of bushy, summer- and autumn-flowering, tuberous perennials that are originally from Mexico, where they are the national flower. The Spanish discovered dahlias in the mountains of Mexico.

In 1872 a box of Dahlia roots were sent from Mexico to the Netherlands. Only one plant survived the trip, but produced spectacular red flowers with pointed petals. Nurserymen bred from this plant, which was named Dahlia juarezii with parents of Dahlias discovered earlier and these are the progenitors of all modern Dahlia hybrids. Ever since, plant breeders have been actively breeding Dahlias to produce thousands of cultivars, usually chosen for their stunning and brightly coloured flowers. The great variety results from Dahlias being octoploids (they have eight sets of homologous chromosomes, whereas most plants have only two).

Dahlias are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Angle Shades, Common Swift, Ghost Moth and Large Yellow Underwing.

The dahlia is named after Swedish 18th-century botanist Anders Dahl.

The dahlia is the official flower of the city of Seattle.

[edit] External links

The medicinal and nutritional properties of Dahlia spp.
- Dahlia rosea at pfaf
- Dahlia pinnata at pfaf

Modern popular varieties include:

Dahlia 'Adelaide Fontane'	Dahlia 'Akita'	Dahlia 'Appleblossom'	Dahlia 'Arabian Night'
Dahlia 'Art Deco'	Dahlia 'Asahi Chohji'	Dahlia 'Aspen'	Dahlia 'Aurora's Kiss'
Dahlia 'Ballego's Glory'	Dahlia 'Barbarry ball'	Dahlia 'Barry Williams'	Dahlia 'Betty Bowen'
Dahlia 'Bishop of Leicester'	Dahlia 'Bishop of Llandaff'	Dahlia 'Blewbury First'	Dahlia 'Bridge view Aloha'
Dahlia 'Cafe au lait'	Dahlia 'Cameo'	Dahlia 'Catherine De Neuve'	Dahlia 'Chimborazo'
Dahlia 'Christmas Star'	Dahlia 'Contessa'	Dahlia 'Crossfield Festival'	Dahlia 'David Howard'
Dahlia 'Duet'	Dahlia 'Eveline'	Dahlia 'Fascination'	Dahlia 'Ferncliffe Illusion'
Dahlia 'Fidalgo Splash'	Dahlia 'Gaudy'	Dahlia 'Gerrie Hoeck'	Dahlia 'Gilt Edge'
Dahlia 'Giraffe'	Dahlia 'Goshen Beauty'	Dahlia 'Grand Prix'	Dahlia 'Hillcrest Royal'
Dahlia 'Hill's Delight'	'Horst Athalie'	Dahlia 'Hy Clown'	Dahlia 'Jaldec Joker'
Dahlia 'Jescot Julie'	Dahlia 'Julie One'	Dahlia 'Karma Lagoon'	Dahlia 'Kate Mountjoy'
'Kenora Challenger'	Dahlia 'Ken's Flame'	Dahlia 'Kidd's Climax'	Dahlia 'Le Castel'
Dahlia 'Lemon Meringue'	Dahlia 'Lombada'	Dahlia 'Louis V'	Dahlia 'Magenta Star'
Dahlia 'Marie Schnugg'	Dahlia 'Mars'	Dahlia 'Marshmallow Sky'	Dahlia 'Mary Eveline'
'Mary's Jomanda'	Dahlia 'Match'	Dahlia 'Mick's Peppermint'	Dahlia 'Mingus Nicole'
'Mish Mash'	Dahlia 'Moonfire'	Dahlia 'Mrs. H. Brown'	Dahlia 'Murray May'
Dahlia 'Nagano'	Dahlia 'Northwest Cosmos'	Dahlia 'Old Gold'	Dahlia 'Onesta'
Dahlia 'Opal'	Dahlia 'Osaka'	Dahlia 'Park Princess'	Dahlia 'Pink Giraffe'
Dahlia 'Piperoo'	Dahlia 'Pooh'	Dahlia 'Procyon'	Dahlia 'Rembrandt'
Dahlia 'Rita Easterbrook'	Dahlia 'Seattle'	Dahlia 'Small world'	Dahlia 'Suitzus Julie'
Dahlia 'Sweet Content'	Dahlia 'Tartan'	Dahlia 'Thomas Edison'	'Trengrove Millennium'
Dahlia 'Twyning's Candy'	Dahlia 'Twyning's after Eight'	Dahlia 'Twyning's Smartie'	Dahlia 'Yelno Enchantment'
Dahlia Pompom-flowered cultivar	Dahlia unknown cultivar	Dahlia unknown cultivar	Dahlia unknown dwarf cultivar
Dahlia unknown cultivar	Dahlia unknown cultivar	Dahlia unknown cultivar