Editing Dahlia (section)

====European introduction====
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 | image1 = Scarlet-flowered dahlia.jpg
 | alt1 = Dahlia coccinea
 | caption1 = ''Dahlia coccinea'', parent of European "single" dahlias (i.e., displaying a single row of ligulate florets)

 | image2 = Dahlia sambucifolia 1805.png
 | alt2 = Dahlia sambucifolia
 | caption2 = ''Dahlia sambucifolia''
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In 1787, the French botanist [[Nicolas-Joseph Thiéry de Menonville]], sent to Mexico to steal the [[cochineal]] insect valued for its scarlet dye, reported the strangely beautiful flowers he had seen growing in a garden in Oaxaca.<ref>Menonville, ''Traité de la culture du nopal et de l'education de la cochenille dans les colonies françaises de l'Amérique'' 1787.</ref> In 1789, [[Vicente Cervantes]], director of the Botanical Garden at Mexico City, sent "plant parts" to Abbe [[Antonio José Cavanilles]], director of the [[Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid|Royal Gardens of Madrid]].<ref>From the director, Sr. Vicentes Cervantes, according to Augustin Legrand and Pierre-Denis Pépin, ''Manuel du cultivateur de dahlias'', "Introduction en Europe", Paris, 1848, p. 10.</ref> Cavanilles flowered one plant that same year, then the second one a year later. In 1791 he called the new growths "Dahlia" for [[Anders Dahl]].<ref name=Cavanilles/> The first plant was called ''Dahlia pinnata'' after its [[pinnate]] foliage; the second, ''Dahlia rosea'' for its rose-purple color. In 1796, from the parts sent by Cervantes, Cavanilles flowered a third plant, which he named ''[[Dahlia coccinea]]'' for its scarlet color.

In 1798, Cavanilles sent ''D.&nbsp;pinnata'' seeds to [[Parma]], Italy. That year, the Marchioness of Bute, wife of [[John Stuart, 1st Marquess of Bute|the Earl of Bute]], the English Ambassador to Spain, obtained a few seeds from Cavanilles and sent them to [[Kew Gardens]], where they flowered but were lost after two to three years.<ref name="autogenerated5">Dean, Richard, The dahlia: its history and cultivation, Macmillan, 1897, p.5.</ref>

[[File:Holland House in 1907 by J. Benjamin Stone - Dahlia Garden.jpg|thumb|right|The Dahlia Garden at Holland House in 1907]]
In the following years Madrid sent seeds to Berlin and Dresden in Germany, and to Turin and Thiene in Italy. In 1802, Cavanilles sent tubers of "these three" (''D.&nbsp;pinnata, D.&nbsp;rosea, D.&nbsp;coccinea'') to Swiss botanist [[Augustin Pyramus de Candolle]] at University of Montpelier in France, [[Andre Thouin]] at the [[Jardin des Plantes]] in Paris and Scottish botanist [[William Aiton]] at Kew Gardens.{{sfn|Weland|2015|loc=p.&nbsp;8}} That same year, John Fraser, English nurseryman and later botanical collector to the Czar of Russia, brought ''[[D. coccinea|D.&nbsp;coccinea]]'' seeds from Paris to the [[Chelsea Physic Garden|Apothecaries Gardens]] in England, where they flowered in his greenhouse a year later, providing ''Botanical Magazine'' with an illustration.
In 1804, a new species, ''Dahlia sambucifolia'', was successfully grown at [[Holland House, London|Holland House]], Kensington. Whilst in Madrid in 1804, [[Elizabeth Fox, Baroness Holland|Lady Holland]] was given either dahlia seeds or tubers by Cavanilles.<ref>{{cite book|last=Forbes|first=James|author2=John Russell Bedford|title=Hortus woburnensis|publisher=J. Ridgway|year=1833|page=[https://archive.org/details/hortuswoburnens00forbgoog/page/n282 246]|url=https://archive.org/details/hortuswoburnens00forbgoog}}</ref> She sent them back to England, to Lord Holland's librarian at Holland House, who successfully raised the plants<ref>{{cite book|last=Hogg|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Hogg (biologist)|title=The Dahlia; Its History and Cultivation|publisher=Groombidge and Sons|year=1853|page=[https://archive.org/details/dahliaitshistor00hogggoog/page/n34 5]|url=https://archive.org/details/dahliaitshistor00hogggoog}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|journal=Transactions of the Horticultural Society of London|date=1808-04-05|volume=1|page=93|location=London|publisher=W. Bulmer & Co.|title=Observations on the different Species of Dahlia, and the best Method of Cultivating them in Britain.|last=Salisbury|first=R. A.}}</ref> and produced two double flowers a year later.{{sfn|Weland|2015|loc=p.&nbsp;2}} The plants raised in 1804 did not survive; new stock was brought from France in 1815.<ref name="autogenerated5"/> In 1824, Lord Holland sent his wife a note containing the following verse:<blockquote>The dahlia you brought to our isle<br />
Your praises for ever shall speak;<br />
Mid gardens as sweet as your smile,<br />
And in colour as bright as your cheek.<ref>{{cite book|last=Ward|first=Bobby J.|title=A Contemplation Upon Flowers|publisher=Timber Press|year=1999|page=119|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n3MgSchHBjYC|isbn=978-0-88192-469-5}}
</ref></blockquote>

In 1805, German naturalist [[Alexander von Humboldt]] sent more seeds from Mexico to Aiton in England, Thouin in Paris, and [[Christoph Friedrich Otto]], director of the [[Berlin Botanical Garden]]. More significantly, he sent seeds to botanist [[Carl Ludwig Willdenow]] in Germany. Willdenow now reclassified the rapidly growing number of species, changing the genus from ''Dahlia'' to ''Georgina''; after naturalist [[Johann Gottlieb Georgi]]. He combined the Cavanilles species ''D.&nbsp;pinnata'' and ''D.&nbsp;rosea'' under the name of ''Georgina variabilis''; ''D.&nbsp;coccinea'' was still held to be a separate species, which he renamed ''Georgina coccinea''.