Dahlia is a genus of bushy, tuberous, herbaceous perennial
plants native to Mexico. Spaniards reported finding the
plants growing in Mexico in 1525, but the earliest known description is by Francisco Hernandez, physician to Philip
II, who was ordered to visit Mexico in 1570 to
study the "natural products of that country". They were used as a
source of food by the indigenous peoples, and were both gathered in the wild
and cultivated. Source
