Canna

Canna is a genus of about 20 species that are endemic to the Americas. Growing from rhizomes, this genus prefers moist to wet soils and flourishes in hot climates. In the cooler temperatures of Northern locations, Canna rhizomes need to be dug up each year to prevent the plants from freezing and rotting. Here in the South, that is not a problem and Canna just continues to multiply each year.

Golden Canna (Canna flacida) is native to the Southeastern portion of North America and is considered a Florida native. This wetland plant tolerates wet to moist soils and can handle six to 8 hours of Florida sun a day, making in an ideal choice for sunny water gardens, retention pond and other waterways. The flowers of Golden Canna are a bright and showy yellow that is especially eye catching against the bright green foliage.

First exported to Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries, Canna quickly became a favorite of hybridists. With its remarkable and showy flowers in bright reds, oranges and yellows. Canna found a place of note in Victorian gardens and continued to be cultivated into remarkable colors of both foliage and flower.

In his 1910 book Canna, Árpäd Mühle, from Hungary, documented some 500 cultivars of Canna! Many of those cultivars are extinct today, but there are plenty of colors, heights, types of foliage and interesting flowers to merit a place in a tropical garden.

Beyond being beautiful, Canna is also useful. The fibers from the stem of the canna can be used as a substitute for jute fabric and fibers from the leaf can be processed to create a paper much like papyrus. The rhizome is high in starch which can be extracted to use in foods like Asian cellophane noodles miến dong. Cannas are highly pollution tolerant and can be planted in contaminated waterways to help remove contaminates from the water. In some portions of remote India, Canna is fermented and made into a potable alcohol.

Butterfly Bonus
Canna brings a very specific butterfly into your garden. The Brazilian or Canna Skipper (Calpodes ethlius) is a largeish deep brown skipper with hints of rust in its coloration. This species hosts specifically on Cannas. The adult butterflies are fast, strong fliers that buzz about the garden and then wedge themselves deep into waiting flowers, as you can see from the picture here. In all my photos of Canna Skippers, I don’t seem to have a single image that contains more than a butterfly back end sticking out of a flower.

Canna Skipper caterpillars wrap bits of the large leaves  around themselves to form a shelter that helps to hide and protect them while they dine. These caterpillars are fascinating, and almost transparent which makes them a great example for understanding caterpillar digestion and respiration, because you can actually watch the process which is both cool and creepy.

What’s in a Name
Canna come from the Gaelic word for reed or cane.