CANNA 



GINGER OBDEB 



CANNA 885 



slightly united at the base. The androe- 

 cium (or male organs) has a short tube 

 and irregular petaloid lobes, one narrow 

 one only bearing an anther. The 1-celled 

 ovary becomes an oblong ovoid or roundish 

 1-seeded capsule. 



T. dealbata. — A beautiful water or 

 marsh plant 3-5 ft. high, native of 

 Southern Carolina. It has creeping root- 

 stocks and long-stalked heart-shaped ovate 

 leaves 4-6 in. or more long, covered with 

 a, conspicuous blue-green ' bloom.' Its 

 blue and purple flowers are borne in 

 loose trusses well above the foliage from 

 June to September. 



Culture am,d Propagation. — This ele- 

 gant plant although often grown in green- 

 houses is perfectly hardy in the mild 

 southern and western parts of the 

 kingdom, and looks charming when grown 

 in bold masses near the edges of streams, 

 lakes &c. It likes sheltered sunny situa- 

 tions, and the rootstocks should be buried 

 in the mud at least a foot below the 

 surface of the water if they are to remain 

 tmdisturbed during the winter. When 

 this plan is not adopted the plants may 

 be grown in pots or tubs in sandy peat and 

 loam and sunk in the water from May to 

 October. They may then be lifted and 

 stored under the stages in greenhouses or 

 in cold frames in winter. The plants may 

 be increased by separating the rootstocks 

 in early spring, potting up the divided 

 portions and growing on in a greenhouse 

 until the end of May, when it will be safe 

 to plant them out as a rule. 



CANNA (Indian Shot). — A genus of 

 erect often taU-growing perennial herbs 

 with ornamental leaves and showy flowers 

 in erect simple or branched racemes. 

 Sepals and petals 3. Stamens petal-like, 

 shortly tubular at the base, with narrow 

 or wedge-shaped oblong loljes, the outer 

 ones nearly equal, imbricate, sometimes 

 2 more or less united, the third one free, 

 sometimes all absent ; the 2 inner ones 

 narrower, one being sterile, the other 

 bearing a linear 1 -celled anther with a 

 petal-like lobe adnate at the side. Fruit 

 a spiny 3-ceIled capsule with numerous 

 hard roundish shot-like seeds from which 

 the popular name ' Indian Shot ' has been 

 derived. 



Although nearly 100 species have 

 been described, Mr. J. G. Baker, who has 

 studied these plants closely, is of opinion 

 that they can all be reduced to about a 



dozen distinct species. These are of little 

 use from an ornamental point of view, 

 and are confined chiefly to botanical 

 collections, but the magnificent hybrids 

 which have been raised from them, and 

 for which we are indebted in the first 

 place to Continental nurserymen, are 

 among the most showy and ornamental 

 of plants for the summer garden. One of 

 the first to obtain Canna hybrids was a 

 M. Ann^e of Paris, who in 1848 raised C. 

 Anncei from seeds of C. nepalensie, which 

 had probably been fertilised with the 

 pollen of some other unknown sort. This 

 strain became so popular that in 1861 

 over 20,000 tufts of it were used in the 

 parks and squares of Paris, and from it 

 have been derived a large number of 

 the tall garden forms having handsome 

 foliage varying in colour from soft green 

 to reddish-purple. 



In 1863 another fine strain was raised 

 from the Peruvian C. iridiflora, and the 

 Costa Eican C. Warscewiczi, and although 

 believed to have been obtained first in 

 Paris, was distributed by M. Kolb, in- 

 spector of the Botanic Gardens, Munich, 

 being called at first iricbiflofa hybrida, 

 but afterwards Bhemamni. 



Within the last quarter of a century 

 several other species have been taken in 

 hand by such French nurserymen as 

 Crozy, Sisley, Vilmorin, and Lemoine, 

 and now we have beautiful forms which 

 are variously known as ' Gladiolus- 

 flowered,' ' Orchid - flowered,' besides 

 numerous others simply called ' large- 

 flowered' varieties. Besides the species 

 mentioned above, discolor, fiaccida, 

 glauca, UlUflora, and zebrima have 

 played a part, and as the original types 

 are no longer used, their progeny has 

 become thoroughly mixed and blended 

 in garden forms. The result has been a 

 new race with flowers of every shade of 

 colour, among them being red, scarlet, 

 yellow, orange, bronze, and intermediate 

 shades, many of them distinctly washed 

 and blotched with other colours. 



Culture and Propagation. — Cannas 

 are very easily grown. They like a deep 

 rich sandy loam which has been well 

 manured, and dug previous to planting. 

 Warm sunny situations, sheltered from 

 violent and cutting winds which tear the 

 foUage, should be chosen, especially in 

 northern parts of the country. The root- 

 stocks may be obtained in the autumn 

 after the foliage has withered, or in early 



