Canna indica
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| Canna indica L. |
Canna indica (also known as saka siri, Indian shot, canna, bandera, chancle, coyol, or platanillo) is a species of the Canna genus, belonging to the family Cannaceae, a native of the Caribbean and tropical Americas that is also widely cultivated as a garden plant. It is a perennial growing from 0.5m to 2.5m, depending on the variety. It is hardy to zone 10 and is frost tender. In the north latitudes it is in flower from August to October, and the seeds ripen in October. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs).
The seeds are small globular black pellets, hard and heavy enough to sink in water. They resemble shotgun pellets giving rise to the plant's common name of Indian Shot. They are widely used for jewelry. The seeds are also used as the mobile elements of the kayamb, a musical instrument from Réunion, as well as the hosho, a gourd rattle from Zimbabwe, where the seeds are known as "hota" seeds.
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[edit] Taxonomy
In the last three decades of the 20th century, Canna species have been categorised by two different taxonomists, Professor Paul Maas (and his wife Dr. Hiltje Maas) from Holland and Dr. Nobuyuki Tanaka from Japan. Inevitably, there are differences in their categorisations.
Dr. Maas regards C. coccinea, C. compacta, C. discolor, C. patens and C. speciosa as synonyms or varieties of C. indica, while Dr. Tanaka also recognises several additional varieties.
- Canna indica var. indica (L.)
- Canna indica var. flava (Roscoe ex Baker) Nb. Tanaka
- Yellow bloom. Many plants previously offered as C. lutea fall into this sub-species.
- Canna indica var. maculata (Hook) Nb. Tanaka
- Yellow bloom with red spots. Many plants previously offered as Canna lutea fall into this sub-species.
- Canna indica var. sanctae rosea (Kraenzl) Nb. Tanaka
- Canna indica var. warszewiczii (A. Dietr) Nb. Tanaka
[edit] Synonyms
There is a consensus that the following are all synonyms of C. indica:
- C. aurantiaca (Roscoe)
- C. bidentata (Bertol)
- C. carnea (Roscoe)
- C. cearensis (Huber)
- C. chinensis (Willd.)
- C. cinnabarina (Bouché)
- C. concinna (Bouché)
- C. flavescens (Link)
- C. formosa (Bouché)
- C. heliconiifolia (Bouché)
- C. humilis (Bouché)
- C. indica var. orientalis (Roscoe ex Baker)
- C. indica var. rubra (Aiton)
- C. lagunensis (Lindl).
- C. lambertii (Lindl.)
- C. lutea (Mill.)
- C. occidentalis (Roscoe)
- C. orientalis (Roscoe)
- C. orientalis var. flava (Roscoe)
- C. pallida (Roscoe)
- C. polyclada (Wawra)
- C. rubra (Willd.)
- C. seleriana (Kraenzl.)
- C. sellowi (Bouché)
- C. surinamensis (Bouché)
- C. sylvestris (Roscoe)
- C. variabilis (Willd.)
- C. warszewiczii var. flameus (Ram. Goyena)
[edit] Reference
- PINK, A. Gardening for the Million.
