Dahlia named Deerwood Christy #5
by J McCombie
Title
Dahlia named Deerwood Christy #5
Artist
J McCombie
Medium
Photograph - Untouched
Description
This piece has been featured in the FAA Groups: "Flora", and "The World of Dahlias".
Deerwood Christy is a Dahlia classified as B-SC-LB-DP/Y. This means it is Medium in Size (B: Medium flowers that exceed 6 to 8 inches (20.3 to 15.2 cm) in diameter), ... Semi-Cactus in Form (Semi-Cactus: petals are double, broad at the base, straight, curving inward or backward and have tips that roll back to nearly half their length. This group is similar to the above, but the petals are not completely "Involute' (tubular) and pointed.), ... and its colour is a Light Blend of Dark Pink and Yellow (Light Blend - a blending of the lighter tints and tones of pink, yellow, lavender, and other pastels). It grows about 36-42" tall. Deerwood Christy is a bright sunny yellow who's petals are outlined in dark pink that can look even as dark as red. The pink shows up on the back side of the petals before the flower unravels, and then travels from the petal tips toward the centre on the top side once the flower opens, often giving it a salmon or coral red softness. As it ages, the yellow fades to soft butter and the pink sometimes fades out almost entirely, except around the petal edges. In it's prime, Deerwood Christy is very warm with it's colouring and inviting with it's semi-cactus form.
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
November 27th, 2018
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