The Stanford Dahlia Project Dahlia ‘Lirio Vario’ Tim Culbertson

Dahlias at Stanford Grown at the Plant Growth Facility on Stock Farm Rd. 80 varieties Prepared Beds Subsoil Irrigation and Fertilization Dahlia ‘Duet’

Dahlias in Plant Genetics Project Purpose Dahlias in Plant Genetics Dr. Virginia Walbot Flower color & plant pigment genetics Forms Hybridization Color analysis Other Questions?

Project Examples Does floral pigmentation correlate with leaf and stem pigmentation? What are the differences in the pigments found in dark purple, lavender/purple, red, orange, pink, yellow and white flowers? How could you define the "phenocritical" period for stem or leaf pigmentation? Is the frequency of transposon excision constant over petal development?

Dahlia ‘Blackberry Ripple’ Project Examples Focus on Transposons – Genes that control variegation Dahlia ‘Lirio Vario’ Dahlia ‘Blackberry Ripple’

So Far… Database Website Culture!! Dahlia ‘Spartacus’

www.stanford.edu/group/dahlia_genetics/

Stanford Dahlia Project How can you help? Identify website problems Identify new varieties we need to grow Identify new study questions Add images / information to the database Allow students to use your garden Help grow out seedlings

Stanford Dahlia Project Questions?

Cultivated Dahlias at the USNA Herbarium

Herbariums Collections of dried plants, fruits, cones, etc. Largest – Paris with 8 million specimens Largest in US – Harvard with 5 million USNA – rare due to emphasis on cultivated plants (about 800,000 sheets) Roses, Boxwood, California Native, Carnivores, Strybing Arboretum, Dahlias A Library

How to Make a Sheet Cut about 18” of plant material with flowers Note collection data Date, Location, Variety, Habitat Information Press between newspaper inside cardboard inside wooden press Make labels with collection data Glue plant and label to archival paper

Demonstration Come on up!!