Canna is an ornamental perennial that belongs to the family Cannaceae. The first flowers were exported from India, China, South and Central America. It was brought to the European continent by Portuguese ships in the 16th century. The ancient Greek designation can be translated as “reed”, the Latin - “pipe”. An ancient Indian legend tells that the leader of one of the tribes decided to burn the peace treaty in a fire, and a bloody massacre broke out. At the site of the fire, flowers with bloody petals grew, reminiscent of flashes of flame or spilled blood.
Description of the plant
The canna flower belongs to the Cannaceae family and includes several dozen plant species found in the tropical regions of North America, South America, and Asia. A typical species is the Indian eland (Canna indica). In home gardens, mainly numerous, more decorative hybrids are cultivated.
Garden canna (Canna x generalis), known simply as canna, is characterized by ovate-lanceolate leaves mounted on stiff, hollow stems ending in an inflorescence. This is an extremely original perennial plant - grown for its decorative and exotic leaves and bright flowers that decorate the garden from July until the first frost.
The plant produces beautiful, very original flowers that have an asymmetrical structure and form a characteristic panicle inflorescence. Flowers are often very intensely colored:
- red,
- orange,
- pink,
- yellow.
Currently, there are unique varieties with shades of salmon or apricot, and two-tone varieties with contrasting colors are popular. The decorative effect is added by the stamens protruding from the petals.
Cannas can grow up to 2 meters, the height of the plant depends on the variety.
The canna rhizome contains a lot of starch; American tribes ate it baked.
Canna varieties with photos and names
Indian canna (Canna indica)
Almost all types of cannas that are popular among gardeners today were born thanks to the Indian canna. Cultivated varieties of such canna are called garden canna. Gardeners divide these hybrids into 3 groups:
Cannes Crozy
These are low-growing species, the height of which varies from 0.6 to 1.6 m. Their flowers are similar in appearance to gladioli. There is a white coating on the surface of the bronze-purple or dark green leaf blades. The flowers have bent petals. In 1868, the French breeder Crozy created the first hybrid; later this garden canna became known as French canna or canna Crozy. The most popular varieties of this canna are:
- Livadia - on bushes a meter high, raspberry-red inflorescences grow, the length of which is from 25 to 30 centimeters, the foliage is purple, flowering begins in July;
- America - the height of the bushes is from 1.2 to 1.4 m, the flowers are cinnabar-red, reaching 12 centimeters in diameter, the inflorescences have a length from 0.3 to 0.35 m, the foliage color is purple, flowering begins in July;
- President - the height of the bushes is about 100 cm, the length of the inflorescences, consisting of rich red flowers, is about 0.3 m, the color of the foliage is green, flowering begins in July.
Orchid cannas
The flowers of this plant are similar in shape to cattleyas. The height of this vigorous plant is from 100 to 200 cm, the flowers are large (from 12.5 to 17.5 centimeters), the edge of the petals is corrugated. The foliage color is green-violet or green. The most popular varieties are:
- Andenken an Pfitzer - the height of the bushes is from 1.1 to 1.4 m, the length of the inflorescences is about 0.3 m, they consist of deep orange flowers with red streaks, the foliage is purple-brown, flowering is observed in July;
- Suevia - bushes reach a height of about 100 cm, the size of the inflorescences is 12x15 cm, they consist of lemon-colored flowers, green foliage, flowering begins in the last days of June;
- Richard Wallace - plant height is about 100 cm, the length of the inflorescences is from 20 to 23 centimeters, they consist of yellowish flowers, on the surface of which there are specks of red, green foliage, flowering begins in June.
Small-flowered (deciduous) cannas
The bush reaches a height of about 300 cm, it is decorated with very impressive leaf plates of purple, green or green-violet color. However, such a plant has very small flowers, no more than 60 mm in size, and is cultivated extremely rarely. The most popular variety is Durban: the color of the flowers is orange-yellow, the striped leaf blades are very decorative, their color is bronze-green-pink-yellow.
