Dahlia imperialis (Tree Dahlia)

Native from Mexico through Central America to Colombia, this plant is a tall perennial herb or subshrub with tuberous roots and thick, hollow stems. Its large leaves are divided two or three times into pointed, toothed leaflets. Branched flower clusters rise above the foliage, bearing nodding, cup-shaped heads. Each head has broad white, pink or lilac ray florets surrounding a yellow disk of small tubular flowers. In Guatemala, flowering is recorded from November through January. The species grows in mountainous regions and is cultivated as an ornamental. New plants can be raised from stem cuttings or by dividing the tuberous roots. Photographed in the central Andes mountain range of Colombia.