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Dahlia
Flower
Dahlia Flower
- Over 1800 Varieties
Flowers have a romantic history, with their honey sweet
perfume, smooth and soft
surface and joyful appearance. The
Dahlia flower is one of the most charming and
elegant of all flowers. The
name itself conveys an
image of mystique. One theory of the
origin of the word "Dahlia" suggests a beginning in
Eastern cultures. The "Dah" sound is
very similar to a lot of
Hindu Indian words. In the Hindu language, this part of
the name signifies a certain godly essence,
while the "lia" shows an
effeminate quality, an apt representation of the
flowers' gentle beauty. With these two
united, it's likely that the word Dahlia
means, roughly, "strong divine feminine". With over 1800
selections, the Dahlia flower is among the most easily recognized
categories on the earth. So special and important was the Dahliaflower in
the horticultural circles, that an international
consultation was held to
define what is, and what is not, a Dahlia
flower.
Dahlia Flower -Tips and
Advice In 1962, at the International Horticultural Congress in Brussels, a
conference was held to
define what may be
classified as a Dahlia flower. Color and shape were out of the question as those
descriptors were both open to interpretation. Instead, it was
decided that the center disk has to be
double, and invisible. The disk could either be
curling inwards, outwards, or both. The thing that makes the Dahliaflower unique is
the fact that it consists of two (or more)
flowers within one. That may sound puzzling, but
let us describe this lovely piece of nature. In the single layer Dahlias, the flowers spring
out from a central disk, with the tips either
perfectly rounded, or sharply pointed. A
few selections have each individual
petal divided into up to six sections. The Anemone flowered Dahlia is a wonder of
mother earth. Even though the
central disk does definitely exist, you can not see it, because of the huge number of petals embedded within.
These are named "Fancy Flower", as
these are certainly, quite elegant. One of the most gorgous
Dahlia flowers is classified as the Ball Dahlia.
The name does not do it justice. The flower is
big and looks like honey comb.
With eleven layers of petals, each layer piled on top of another, the overall design looks like a spiral, which tapers towards the top of
the Dahlia flower. These flowers are so entancing
that movies have been titled after them, and
authors wrote about them.
Lately, the cinema version
of "The Black Dahlia Murders" was released. An indie
film, called "The Black Dahlia" is now in
making. The plot centers around the
enchanting beauty and fragility of the Dahliaflower, and was
written by, and stars, the world
famous guitar player,
Gidget Gein. This goes to show just how
remarkable this flower is, with an international
conference held to study and define it, and
with the admiration of a rock music
legend.
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