c 



N 



4 



5 



Canka {Luted) foliisovatis petiolatis neivofis fpatha 

 floribus longiore. Caima ^xith cvaU, obtufe^ nervous 

 leaves^ having fcot-Jlnlks^ -and a longer hood to the flower, 

 Cannacorus flore luteo pundtato. Tourn. Inft. R. H. 



Canna {Glaiica) folUs lanceolatis petiolatis enervi- [ 

 bus. Prod. Lcyd. ii. Canna 'with fpear-Jhaped fmooth 

 leaves having foot-ftalks, Cannacorus glaucophyllus, 

 ainpKore flore, Indis palullris facie. Hort.Elth, 69. 

 The firft fort grows naturally in both Indies : the 

 inhabitants of the Britilh iflands in America, call all 

 the fpecics without diftinftion Indian Shot, from the 

 roundncfs and hardnefs of the feeds. ■■ ' ' - -' ■; 

 This plant hath a thick, - flelhy, tuberous root, 

 which divides into many irregular knobs, fpreading 

 wide near the furface of the ground, fending' out 

 many large oval leaves without any order ^ thefe, at 

 their firft appearance, are twilled like a horn, but af- 

 terwards expand and are near a foot long, and five 

 inches broad in the middle, leffening gradually to both 

 ends, and terminating m points. They have many 

 large tranfverfe veins running from the midrib to the 

 fides, whicli are prominent on their under fide • and 

 between each of thefe riin two fmaller, parallel, point- 

 ed veins, which are peculiar to this fpecies. The 

 ftalks are herbaceous, rifing four feet high, encom- 

 pafled by the broad leafy foct-ftalks of the leaves ; 

 thefe are comprefled on two fides • at the upper part 

 of the ftalk the flowers are produced in loofe fpikcs, 

 e*ach being at firft covered 'by 'a leafy hood, which 

 afterward ftands below the flower, and turns to a 

 brown colour. Each flower hath one petal, which 

 is cut almofl to Hie bottom into fix flender fegments, 

 the three upper being broadeft ; thefe are of a pale 

 red colour. The flower is encompaflTed by a three- 

 leaved empalement, which fits upon a fmall, roundifii, 

 rough germen, which, after the flower is fallen, fwells 

 to a large fruit or capfule oblong and rough, having 

 three longitudinal furrows, and is crowned by the 

 three-leaved empalement of the flower which remains. 

 When the fruit is ripe, the capfule opens length- 

 ways into three cells, which are filled with round, 

 hard, black, fl:iining feeds. The principal feafon of 

 thefe plants flowering, is in June, July, and Auguft. 

 As this fort is a native of the warmeft parts of A- 

 merlca, it requires to be placed in a moderate ftove 

 in winter, othcrwife the roots will decay. I have 

 frequently 'tried to keep thefe roots through the win- 

 ter in a green-houfc, but could not fucceed ; for al- 

 though {uA-it have efcapcd, yet they were fo much 

 weakened by the cold, as not to recover their ftrength 

 the following fummer, fo as to flower in any tolerable 

 degree of perfedion ; fo that I have fince conftantly 

 kept them in Vv'inter in a moderate ftove, v/here they 

 always, flower in that feafon, at v/liich time they make 

 a fine appearance; and in the furnmer, place them 

 abroad in a flickered fituation with other tender exotic 

 plants, where they flower again, and produce ripe 

 feeds annually. ; 



The f-cond fort grows naturally in Carolina, and 

 fome of the other northern provinces of America. 

 The leaves of this fort are longer than thofe of the 

 former, and terminate ;n fharper points. The ftalks 

 grow taller, and the fegments of the flower are much 

 narrower ; tlie colour is a pale red, fo it makes no 

 'great appearance. The feeds are like thofe of the 

 former fort. If the roots of this fort are planted in 

 warm borders and a dry foil, they will live through 

 the winter in the open air. I have plants of this fort 

 jn the Chclfea garden, v^hich have furvived twelve 

 winters in a fouth-weft border without cover, and 

 flower well every year, but do not produce feeds. 

 The third fort hath larger leaves than either of tlie 

 former ; the iklks rife much taller. I have received 

 the feeds of this from America, and from tlie Bra- 

 zils, by the title of Wild Tlantain. The flower- 

 ftalks of this fort rife more than fix feet high. I'he 

 leaves are veiy large, and thofe near the root have 

 long foot-ftalks. The flowers arc produced in larger 

 l])ikcs than thofe of the former fort, and are of a 



N ■ 



much brighter fcarlet.'- The feed- vefl^els arc longer, 



and the feeds larger than thofe ; and thefe difi^Tcnces 

 are permanent froni feeds, fo that I make no doubt 

 of its being a diftinft fpecies. ■" ;•.-■■;.- 

 The fourth fort is lefs common ia America than ei*- 

 ther of the former.^ ' I received the feeds of this from 

 India, but have had tv/o varieties arife from tlie feeds, 

 one with a plain yellow, and the other a fpottcd 

 flower, which I find are apt to change from one to the 

 other, when propagated by feeflji, .' ^ This fort hath 

 fliorter and rounder leaves than either of the former 

 forts. ' The ftalks feldom rife higher than three feet, 

 and the fpikes of flowers are like thofe bf the firft fpe* 

 cies, excepting the colour of the flowers.- ^ 

 The feeds of the fifth fort I received fi-om Cartha- 

 geria in New Spain, in the year 1733, which produced 

 very ftrong plants the firft year, fome of which flow- 

 ered the fame autumn. The roots of this are much 

 larger than either of the former forts, and ftrike down 

 "ftrong flefliy iibi'es deep in the grqund.. ,The ftallij; 

 rife feven or eight feet high. The leaves are near 

 two feet long, narrow, fmooth, and of a fea-green 

 colour. The flowers are produced in fliort thick 

 fpikes at the extremity, which are large, and of a 

 pale yellow colour \ the fegments of the petal are 

 broad, but their fliape like thofe of the odicr fuits. 

 The feed-veflels are larger, and much longer than 

 thofe of the other forts, but contain fewer feeds, 

 which are very large. ":The young plants which arc 

 raifed from feeds bf this fort, do more certainly flower 

 than the old roots, or the offsets taken from them ; 

 for the roots fend out many offsets, which will fpread 

 to aconfiderable diftance where they have room, but 



feldom produce flowers ; fo that it is the beft way to 

 raife a fuccefllon bf plants from feeds, and to throv/ 

 out the old ones after they have perfcftcd their feeds. 

 All the forts are propagated by feeds, which ftiould 

 be fown on a hot-bed in the Ipring -, and when the 

 plants are fit to remove^' tliey lliould be tranfplanted 

 into feparate fmall pots,^" filled with rich kitchen-gar- 

 den earth, and plunged into a moderate hot-bed of 

 tanners bark, obferving to fliade them till they have 

 taken root ; after which, they (hould have a large 

 fhare of free air admitted to them every day in warm 

 weather, and be frequently refreflied with water. As 

 thefe plants will m>ake great progrefs in their growth, 

 they muft be fliifted into larger pots filled with the 

 fame fort of earth, and part of them plunged into 

 the hot-bed again ; and the others may be placed 

 abroad in June, with other exotic plants, in a warm 

 fituation. Thofe which are placed in the hot-bed, 

 will be ftrong enough to flower well in the ftove the 

 following winter; but thofe in the open air, will not 

 flower before the following fummer. Thefe may re- 

 main abroad till the beginning of Oftobcr, when 

 they muft be removed into the ftove, and treated in 

 the fime manner as the old plants ; and in May, if 

 a gentle hot-bed is made, and covered a foot thick 

 with rich earth, and the plants turned out of the pots, 

 planting them with their balls of earth upon the hot- 

 bed, covering each wkh a bell-glafs, which may be 

 raifed on one fide every day to admit air to the plants ; 

 and as thefe advance, they muft be gradually inured 

 to bear the open air. With this management the 

 plants will grow much taller, and flower ftronger 

 than thofe which arekept in pots, and from thefe 

 good feeds maybe expe6i:ed in autumn. Thefe plants 

 will continue m.any years with proper management-, 

 but as young plants always flower better than" the cid 

 roots^ it is icarce worth while to continue them after 

 they have borne good feeds. ■ . 



The fecond fort, which is much hardier than either 

 of tlii: other, fliould have a different treatment. The 

 young plants of this muft be earlier inured to the 

 open air, where they may rem.ain till thefroft begins> 

 then they muft be placed in the green-houfe, and 

 fliould have but little wet in winter ; and the begin- 

 ning of May, thefe fhould be turned out of the pots, 

 and planted in a v/arm fouth border, in a dry foil, 

 where they will thrive and produce flowers annualiv j 



bu; 



