1363.000 Canna L.

Fayaz, F. (2011) Encyclopedia of Tropical Plants Firefly Books, New Zealand

Description of the genus

Perennial herbs from rhizomes; aerial stems present, unbranched. Leaves cauline, 2-ranked, differentiated into basal sheath, petiole and lamina; sheaths overlapping, supporting stem. Inflorescences 1 per aerial shoot, terminal on a leafy shoot; pedunculate racemes or panicles of flowers or monochasial cymes; bracts of main axis subtending flowers. Flowers asymmetric; sepals and petals differentiated, sepals 3 distinct, petals 3 basally connate. Fruit a capsule; sepals persistent in fruit. Seeds without aril.

Derivation of name: Latin name for a reed or cane

Comment: Naturalised species of Canna are frequently encountered around Harare. The taxonomy of these plants is not clear to us, but we have tentatively recognised two taxa.

Worldwide: 8-10 species in tropical America

Zimbabwe: 2 taxa.

Canna sp. (cf. flaccida)

Links to taxa:     View: living plant images - herbarium specimen images - all images for this genus

SpeciesFZ divisionsContent
indica L.N,W,C,E,SDescription, Image
sp. (cf. flaccida) CDescription, Image

Other sources of information about Canna:

Our websites:

Flora of Caprivi: cultivated Canna
Flora of Malawi: Canna
Flora of Mozambique: Canna
Flora of Mozambique: cultivated Canna
Flora of Zambia: Canna
Flora of Zambia: cultivated Canna
Flora of Zimbabwe: cultivated Canna

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Canna
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Canna
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Canna
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Canna
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Canna
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Canna
JSTOR Plant Science: Canna
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Canna
Plants of the World Online: Canna
Tropicos: Canna
Wikipedia: Canna

Copyright: Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings and Meg Coates Palgrave, 2002-24

Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. & Coates Palgrave, M. (2024). Flora of Zimbabwe: Genus page: Canna.
https://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/speciesdata/genus.php?genus_id=399, retrieved 28 March 2024

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