Dahlia is a genus of bushy, tuberous, herbaceous perennial plants native mainly in Mexico, but also Central America, and Colombia. A member of the Asteraceae , dicotyledonous plants, related species include the sunflower, daisy, chrysanthemum and zinnia. There are 42 species of dahlia, with hybrids commonly grown as garden plants. Flower forms are variable, with one head per stem; these can be as small as 2 in diameter or up to 1 ft . This great variety results from dahlias being octoploidsâthat is, they have eight sets of homologous chromosomes, whereas most plants have only two. In addition, dahlias also contain many transposonsâgenetic pieces that move from place to place upon an alleleâwhich contributes to their manifesting such great diversity.