The scientific name Dahlia is the latinized surname of Andreas Dahl (1751-1789), a Swedist botanist and student of taxonomer Carl Linnaeus. He was also known as Anders Dahl [1].
Dahlias are native to Mexico. In the literature, the details of the Dahlia eponymy are told with variations, often hinting at knowledge gaps. The Spaniard Antonio José Cavanilles y Palop (1745-1804)—Director of the Royal Gardens of Madrid and an eager supporter of the Linnaean taxonomy—is typically credited for honoring Dahl. But what was the relationship between Cavanilles and Dahl? Was it a Cavanilles-Linneaus-Dahl relationship and what was Dahl's contribution to dahlia taxonomy?
Martin Král writes that Anders Dahl died on May 25, 1789, of phlegmatic fever of pneumonia [2]. Dahl's death occurred more than a year before Cavanilles—who had received dahlia seeds in 1790 from the Director of the botanical gardens in Mexico City, Vincente Cervantes (1755-1829)—saw the first dahlia in bloom in Madrid [3,4].
Only four of the 35 wild dahlia species have constituted the genetic basis for the development of a dahlia floriculture [5]. What follows is a collection of dahlia cultivar photos I made in the Dahliengarten (dahlia garden) that was designed for the International Garden Exhibition in Berlin in 2017 (IGA Berlin 2017).
[1] Dahl, Andreas (Anders) (1751-1789). JSTOR - Global Plants. Link: plants.jstor.org/stable/10.5555/al.ap.person.bm000001794.
[2] Martin Král: Of Dahlia Myths and Aztec Mythology - The Dahlia in History. Seattle, Washington, 2014. Link: dahlia.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Dahlia-Myths-Part-1.pdf.
[3] Dahlien, vom Kultursymbol über Nahrungsquelle und Heilpflanze bis zu ausgefallensten Züchtungen für unsere Gärten. ZOOGRÜN e. V. Link: www.zoogrün.de/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Dahlien.pdf.
[4] The Dahlia: An Early History. Arnold Arboretum, Harvard. Link: arnoldia.arboretum.harvard.edu/pdf/articles/1970-30-4-the-dahlia-an-early-history.pdf.
[5] L. J. Mariña: Review: Cultivation of the dahlia. Cultivoa Tropicales, 2015, 36 (10), pp. 103-110. Link: scielo.sld.cu/pdf/ctr/v36n1/en_ctr14115.pdf.
Dahlias are native to Mexico. In the literature, the details of the Dahlia eponymy are told with variations, often hinting at knowledge gaps. The Spaniard Antonio José Cavanilles y Palop (1745-1804)—Director of the Royal Gardens of Madrid and an eager supporter of the Linnaean taxonomy—is typically credited for honoring Dahl. But what was the relationship between Cavanilles and Dahl? Was it a Cavanilles-Linneaus-Dahl relationship and what was Dahl's contribution to dahlia taxonomy?
Martin Král writes that Anders Dahl died on May 25, 1789, of phlegmatic fever of pneumonia [2]. Dahl's death occurred more than a year before Cavanilles—who had received dahlia seeds in 1790 from the Director of the botanical gardens in Mexico City, Vincente Cervantes (1755-1829)—saw the first dahlia in bloom in Madrid [3,4].
Only four of the 35 wild dahlia species have constituted the genetic basis for the development of a dahlia floriculture [5]. What follows is a collection of dahlia cultivar photos I made in the Dahliengarten (dahlia garden) that was designed for the International Garden Exhibition in Berlin in 2017 (IGA Berlin 2017).
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| Dahlia Akita |
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| Dahlia Cryfield Harmony |
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| Dahlia Dzivite |
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| Dahlia Gute Laune |
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| Dahlia Elsie Huston |
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| Dahlia IGA Rostock |
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| Dahlia Philadelphia |
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| Dahlia Red Fox |
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| Dahlia Traute |
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| Dahlia Vielliebchen |
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| Dahlia Stadt Würzburg |
References and more to explore
[1] Dahl, Andreas (Anders) (1751-1789). JSTOR - Global Plants. Link: plants.jstor.org/stable/10.5555/al.ap.person.bm000001794.
[2] Martin Král: Of Dahlia Myths and Aztec Mythology - The Dahlia in History. Seattle, Washington, 2014. Link: dahlia.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Dahlia-Myths-Part-1.pdf.
[3] Dahlien, vom Kultursymbol über Nahrungsquelle und Heilpflanze bis zu ausgefallensten Züchtungen für unsere Gärten. ZOOGRÜN e. V. Link: www.zoogrün.de/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Dahlien.pdf.
[4] The Dahlia: An Early History. Arnold Arboretum, Harvard. Link: arnoldia.arboretum.harvard.edu/pdf/articles/1970-30-4-the-dahlia-an-early-history.pdf.
[5] L. J. Mariña: Review: Cultivation of the dahlia. Cultivoa Tropicales, 2015, 36 (10), pp. 103-110. Link: scielo.sld.cu/pdf/ctr/v36n1/en_ctr14115.pdf.
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