dahlia: [19] The dahlia was named in 1791 in honour of Anders Dahl, an 18th-century Swedish botanist who discovered the plant in Mexico in 1788. The first record of the term in English is from 1804. During the 19th century it was used for a particular shade of red: ‘One of the many ugly shades that are to be worn this season is dahlia’, Pall Mall Gazette 29 September 1892.
