ACe Dahlia

There are so many, many different dahlias. And their differences can be based on height, floral shape, flower size and colour. Most dahlias we see nowadays are hybrids. They have been developed as a result of both purposeful and accidental crossings. In these 'accidental' crossings, it is the bees that have done the work, but in these cases it is difficult to determine which plants have been the parents of the new offspring. Even when purposeful crossing is being conducted and the parental plants are carefully selected, it is still difficult to know ahead of time what the results will be. This is because dahlias are octoploids: unlike the usual diploids, these plants have eight different groups of homologous chromosomes containing hereditary factors. This means that when crossing them, many different new combinations are possible that can then determine the characteristics of the new plant. By gathering information about the more dominant and less dominant traits during crossing activities, the breeder of dahlias attempts to reach a certain goal. Even with all this planning, however, a new dahlia will sometimes be produced that looks very unlike what had been expected. And it can display such outstanding qualities that it holds the promise of being a very useful innovation. These dahlias - the ones that cannot be fitted into any of the other collections but are ones that every dahlia enthusiast will want - earn a place in this 'ACe' series.

ACe Mix

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Last update: 24.04.2006