Dahlia Eponymy
The naming of the dahlia after Dahl has long been a subject of some confusion. Many sources state that the name was bestowed by Linnaeus. However, Linnaeus died in 1778, more than eleven years before the plant was introduced into Europe, so he could not have been the one to honor his former student. It is most probable that first attempt to scientifically define the genus was done by Abbe Antonio Jose Cavanilles, Director of the Royal Gardens of Madrid, who received the first specimens from Mexico in 1789, two years after Dahl's death.
Dahl was, in fact, twice honored in this manner; in the 1780s, Carl Peter Thunberg, a friend from Uppsala, named a species of plant from the family Hamamelidaceae after him. The Dahlia crinita is a reference to Dahl's appearance, probably to his large beard, since crinita is Latin for "longhaired". Thunberg finally published the name in 1792. The plant has now been reclassified as Trichocladus crinitus (Thunb.) Pers..
Thunberg's original specimen is in the Swedish Museum of Natural History.
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