Canary flora > Exotic and ornamental
Canna indica
Canna indica L.
Indian Shot, African Arrowroot, Pisang Sebiak, Bunga Tasbih
Perennial herbaceous plant with a fleshy, branched rhizome, up to 60 cm
long, which divides into bulbous segments, the surface of which is
marked by transverse grooves and covered with leaves arranged in two
rows.
White rootlets emerge from the lower part, and from the apex, where there are numerous buds, sprout the leaves, the flower stalk and the stems.
The aerial stems can reach a height of 1-3 m and form a compact clump, enveloped by leaf sheaths.
The leaves are broad, green, purple, reddish or purplish-green, with short petioles and elliptical blades, which can be 30-60 cm long and 10-25 cm wide, with an obtuse or narrowly wedge-shaped base and an acute or shortly acuminate apex, with a prominent central nerve.
White rootlets emerge from the lower part, and from the apex, where there are numerous buds, sprout the leaves, the flower stalk and the stems.
The aerial stems can reach a height of 1-3 m and form a compact clump, enveloped by leaf sheaths.
The leaves are broad, green, purple, reddish or purplish-green, with short petioles and elliptical blades, which can be 30-60 cm long and 10-25 cm wide, with an obtuse or narrowly wedge-shaped base and an acute or shortly acuminate apex, with a prominent central nerve.
Its showy flowers are arranged in terminal racemose inflorescences with
6-20 cincini of 1-2 flowers each.
The red or orange-yellow flowers, 4-8 cm long, have a complex flower structure, consisting of a calyx with narrowly triangular sepals 1-2 cm long, and what appear to be five showy petals, but are actually staminodes and petaloid filaments that have been modified to mimic petals.
The true petals are actually the three bract-like structures below these false petals, which are fused together at the base, forming a tube about 5-15 mm long, with inward-curving margins.
The showy structure of the flower is formed by three relatively broad outer staminodes, an inner staminode, somewhat narrower and with its tip bent backwards, and an even thinner petaloid filament, with an anther about 10 mm long located halfway up one of its sides.
The red or orange-yellow flowers, 4-8 cm long, have a complex flower structure, consisting of a calyx with narrowly triangular sepals 1-2 cm long, and what appear to be five showy petals, but are actually staminodes and petaloid filaments that have been modified to mimic petals.
The true petals are actually the three bract-like structures below these false petals, which are fused together at the base, forming a tube about 5-15 mm long, with inward-curving margins.
The showy structure of the flower is formed by three relatively broad outer staminodes, an inner staminode, somewhat narrower and with its tip bent backwards, and an even thinner petaloid filament, with an anther about 10 mm long located halfway up one of its sides.
The fruits are ellipsoid to globose capsules, verrucous,
chestnut-coloured and between 1.5-3 cm long, which when ripe contain a
large number of globular seeds about 4-6 mm in diameter, black and very
hard.
Flowering normally takes place in summer and well into autumn.
It multiplies by seed, but much more easily and quickly by dividing the rhizomes in autumn, ensuring that at least one eye remains in each division so that it can sprout more quickly.
Flowering normally takes place in summer and well into autumn.
It multiplies by seed, but much more easily and quickly by dividing the rhizomes in autumn, ensuring that at least one eye remains in each division so that it can sprout more quickly.
