Dahlia named Hollyhill Spider Woman #3
by J McCombie
Title
Dahlia named Hollyhill Spider Woman #3
Artist
J McCombie
Medium
Photograph - Untouched
Description
This piece has been featured in the FAA Group, "The World of Dahlias".
Hollyhill Spider Woman is a Dahlia classified as BB-C-PR/W. This means it is Small in size (BB: Small flowers that exceed 4 to 6 inches (15.2 to 10.2 cm) in diameter), Cactus in form (Straight Cactus: petals are double, uniformly radiate in all directions from the center of the flower, are rolled inward more than half of their length and may be pointed, straight, or curved backwards. These are unique, and carry blooms very similar to cactus flowers. That means they're fully double, and have tubular petals that are pointed, giving a starburst appearance. This group includes some spectacular color combinations. Big plants, to 60 in. tall.), and its colours are Purple (09 PURPLE: ADS Color Guide PR 1-36 and BLACK.) and White (01 WHITE: Pure white, ivory or cream with or without faint blushes of other colors. ADS Color Guide WH 1-9.). It stands about 36-42" tall. The cactus form of Hollyhill Spder Woman is very loose, wavy and spikey and it's name is reflective of that. And it's colours are not consistent, sometimes with a very scarlet red and other times a very blue/purple burgundy that changes to purple, even lavender before it reaches the white tips. The base of the petals are golden yellow and sometimes there are skinny white petaloids swirling around amongst the long wavy coloured petals. Hollyhill Spider Woman is certainly not a neat and tidy Dahlia.
Dahlia is a genus of bushy, tuberous, herbaceous perennial plants native to Mexico, Central America, and Colombia. A member of the Asteraceae or Compositae, dicotyledonous plants, related species include the sunflower, daisy, chrysanthemum and zinnia. There are at least 36 species of dahlia, with hybrids commonly grown as garden plants. Flower forms are variable, with one head per stem; these can be as small as 2" in diameter or up to 12" ("dinner plate"). This great variety results from dahlias being octoploids - that is, they have eight sets of homologous chromosomes, whereas most plants have only two. In addition, dahlias also contain many transposons - genetic pieces that move from place to place upon an allele - which contributes to their manifesting such great diversity.
The stems are leafy, ranging in height from as low as 12" to more than 6-8'. The majority of species do not produce scented flowers or cultivars. Like most plants that do not attract pollinating insects through scent, they are brightly colored, displaying most hues, with the exception of blue. "Dahl" is a homophone of the Swedish word "dal", or "valley"; although it is not a true translation, the plant is sometimes referred to as the "valley flower".
Spanish Hidalgos reported finding the plants growing in Mexico in 1525. They were used for a food source, and were both gathered in the wild and cultivated. The Aztecs used them to treat epilepsy, and employed the long hollow stem of the Dahlia imperalis for water pipes. The indigenous peoples variously identified the plants as "Chichipatl" (Toltecs) and "Acocotle" or "Cocoxochitl" (Aztecs) translated as "water cane", "water pipe", "water pipe flower", "hollow stem flower" and "cane flower". All these refer to the hollowness of the plants' stem. The dahlia was declared the national flower of Mexico in 1963.
Uploaded
March 17th, 2021
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