Canna (plant)

Canna (or Canna Lily) is a genus of 10 species of flowering plants. The closest living relations to cannas are the other plant families of the order Zingiberales, that is the Zingiberaceae (gingers), Musaceae (bananas), Marantaceae, Heliconiaceae, Strelitziaceae, etc.

Description[edit | edit source]

Canna is a genus in the family Cannaceae. The plants have large foliage and horticulturists have turned it into a large-flowered garden plant. It is also used in agriculture as a rich source of starch for human and animal consumption.

Taxonomy[edit | edit source]

Although cannas are among the most desirable and most horticulturally important plants, they have been remarkably resistant to phylogenetics classification. This is perhaps because they have a number of evolutionary pathways, and have on several occasions been classified as either a monocot or dicot.

Cultivation[edit | edit source]

Cannas are easy to grow from both seeds and rhizomes, but they are particularly easy to grow from rhizomes. The plant is one of the finest summer bulbs for northern climates. They can be grown in the ground year-round where temperatures never drop below 10–15 degrees.

Uses[edit | edit source]

Cannas are used for their oil, to make biofuel, in cooking, and in the manufacture of paper. The plant yields a fibre from the stem, which is used in making paper. The plant is also harvested from the wild for local use as a source of food, medicine and material for thatch.