Dahlia species...TOW

Alberto Castillo ezeizabotgard@hotmail.com
Tue, 15 Jul 2003 05:48:39 PDT
Dear all:
              The first thing of interest in Dahlia species is how different 
than those of garden Dahlias their flowers are . In fact, they always look 
like daisies (some like Coreopsis, some like Tithonias) and from a distance 
Dahlia imperialis flowers look like Clematis.
               We are only at the very beginning of learning about them as 
the current revision gives 33 species in four sections. Of course, enclosing 
a list of them below is not to encourage “modern day plant explorers” to 
plunder them from the wild for sale!!


I.	Pseudodendron
D. excelsa
D. imperialis
D. tenuicaulis


II.	Epiphytum
D. macdougallii


III.	Entemophyllum
D. scapigeroides
D. foeniculifolia
D. dissecta
D. linearis
D. rupícola
D. congestifolia


IV.	Dahlia
D. apiculata
D. brevis
D. cardiophylla
D. mollis
D. parvibracteata
D. rudis
D. scapigera
D. tenuis
D. tubulata
D. hjertingii
D. merckii
D. australis
D. coccinea
D. sherffii
D. atropurpurea
D. barkerae
D. neglecta
D. pteropoda
D. sorensenii
D. spectabilis
D. hintonii
D. moorei
D. purpusii




And Paul, Dahlia imperialis is not a short day plant here. It is obviously a 
matter of temperatures as it flowers for a long period in summer and autumn. 
When grown in greenhouses it starts flowering in spring and does not stop 
until late autumn. I find a great drawback in “tree” Dahlias and it is that 
they can be torn to pieces by wind and it is not always easy to find a 
sheltered place for them in every garden.
The main problem we will find when growing Dahlia species is how to maintain 
them pure as bees can perform wonders in crossing all sorts of Dahlias. 
Possibly root division will be the only way to achieve this.
Regards
Alberto

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