CANNA INDICA. 
MONANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 
Se 
SECT. I. CANN. 
Gey. Cuar.—Anther single, attached to the margin of the petal-like filament ; style erect, club-shaped ; stigma an 
obtuse scale ; capsule three-celled ; seeds globose, numerous. 
SpEc. Cuar.—Spike erect ; upper lip of the interior limb of corolla in three sections; sections linear, erect, 
equal, converging, intire, acute; lower lip intire, declined ; leaves lanceolate, inzequilateral. 
Syy.—Canna Indica, corolle limbo interiore trifido, laciniis lanceolatis, acuminatis, strictis. Roemer § Schultes, vol. i. 
Canna Indica, var. rubra. flore toto rubescente, foliis elliptico-ovatis. Aiton, Hort. Kew. tom. i. le OGL a, 
Canna Indica, corolla limbo interiore trifido, laciniis lanceolatis, acuminatis, strictis. Aiton, Hort. Kew. 
tom. i. p. 1. Ed. ii. 
Canna Indica, Bot. Reg. No. 776. 
Canna Indica, var. maculata. Indian shot ; spotted flowered variety. Hooker, Exotic Flora. 53. 
DESCRIPTION. 
Root fibrous; stem erect, 3-4 feet high; leaves lanceolate, ineequilateral ; petioles short, winged, decurrent ; 
general bracte long-lanceolate, deciduous ; partial bracte irregularly ovate or wedge-shaped, membranous, deciduous, 
inclosing one or two flowers; spike erect; rachis angular ; calyx superior, persistent, in three nearly equal 
segments, lanceolate, acute ; corolla monopetalous, with a double limb or border; outer limb in three segments, long, 
linear, acute, intire, equal, converging ; inner limb bilabiate ; upper lip in three sections, linear-lanceolate, acute, 
intire, converging ; lower lip spatulate, intire, declined ; filament petal-like, erect, intire, acute; anther simple, linear, 
affixed to the margin of the filament, but supported also by a proper stamen concealed and decurrent in the margin ; 
style petal-like, intire, acute; stigma an obtuse scale ; capsule globose, rugose, 3—4 celled; seeds black, numerous. 
OBSERVATIONS. 
The Canna Indica has long been known in this country. It is mentioned by Miller, in his Gardener’s 
Dictionary, as being a native of the warmest parts of America. Its specific appellation is probably therefore not 
derived from the East, but the West Indies ; where it is also called Indian reed, and the seeds Indian shot. By our 
earlier botanists, it was called Flos-Cancri, or Crabs-claws, from the resemblance between the erect, linear, 
converging, bright-red flowers, and the claws of a crab; a resemblance which is characteristic of this species only. 
Thus Cowley, in his Fourth Book of Plants, says, 
“ The Inp1an Flow’ry Reed in figure vies, 
“* And lustre, with the Cancer of the skies.” 
The Canna Indica of Dr. Roxburgh, (Asiat. Res. vol. xi. p- 322, and Flor. Ind. vol. i. p. 1.) with its yellow 
variety, which are common in the gardens throughout India, is a different species. from the present, and will be 
given under the name of C. orientalis. 
The figure in Bot. Register, No. 776, is very characteristic; but the Canna Indica of Redoute, fig. 201, 
is a different plant from the present, having only two sections of the upper lip: of the interior limb of the corolla. 
It is supposed by Dr. Hooker to correspond with C. speciosa of Dr. Sims. Bot. Mag. 2317. 
REFERENCES. 
1. The three segments of the upper lip of the corolla. 
2. Filament, anther, and style. 
3. Lower lip of corolla. 
4 Outer limb of corolla. 
5 
» Germen and calyx. 
