Derivation of name uncertain.
Biennial or perennial herbs, hairy. Stems erect. Leaves along stems, alternate, pinnate or divided. Capitula radiate, terminal, solitary, with long stalks. Involucral bracts in 2 rows, overlapping, unequal. Receptacle with scales, spherical to cylindrical. Ray florets female, ligulate, yellow and/or purple. Disk florets bisexual, tubular, yellowish or purplish. Achenes compressed, 4-angled or winged, often hairy. Pappus a crown, of 1 or 2 scales or absent.
Spherical or elongated receptacle; deciduous, incurved, velvety receptacle bracts.
7 species from North America.
Source: (2002). Dahlia. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 4. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 3. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.
