418 



THE GAKDENER'S ASSISTANT. 



Mathotiana alba. Pure-white, imbricated. 



Mathotiana rosea. Clear-rose, large. 



Monarch. Beautiful dark-scarlet; semi-double. 



Mrs. Cope. White, striped -crimson, imbricated. 



Pearl. White; one of the finest. 



Princess Mary. Red crimson, with shell-like petals. 



Queen Victoria. Carmine, banded-white. 



Reticulata flore-pleno. Bright rosy-lake. 



Saccoi nova. Bright-rose, pink-edged. 



Tricolor imbricata. White, crimson stripe on each petal. 



Verschaffeltii. Pale-rose, striped with white. 



[J. H.] 



Fig. 524.— Canna Italia : to show habit. 



Canna (fig. 524). — This genus has had a 

 place in gardens since the introduction of C. indica 

 in 1596. Roscoe's Monograph, published in 1806, 

 contains twenty-four coloured plates of Cannas. 

 According to Mr. Baker's review of the genus, 

 published in 1894, there are sixteen good species 

 only. They are fine plants, with bold foliage 

 from 4 to 8 feet high, and branched spikes cf 

 red or yellow flowers. 



It was not until 1840 that they were taken 

 special notice of by florists, whose first efforts 



were devoted to their improvement as foliage 

 plants for the subtropical garden — the taller 

 species being mostly used. Deep-brown and 

 even crimson-brown leaved kinds were obtained. 

 C. Ehemannii, a hybrid with large crimson 

 flowers, first drew attention to the possibility 

 of obtaining Cannas remarkable for their flowers 

 as well as for their fine leaves. From this, 

 crossed with C. Warscewiczii and C. glauca, both 

 short-tubed species, the modern garden varie- 

 ties have sprung. Their progeny have 

 intercrossed readily, and hundreds of 

 fine seedlings have been the result. 



M. Crozy, of Lyons, took the lead 

 in breeding garden Cannas. Victor 

 Hugo and Felix Crouson were amongst 

 the kinds that drew special attention 

 to Cannas in the gardens of the 1868 

 Paris Exhibition. Madame Crozy, still 

 one of the best, appeared a few years 

 later. Since then Cannas have rapidly 

 improved as florists' flowers until the 

 present high standard has been reached. 

 A perfectly distinct strain was raised 

 by Dammann of Naples, with very large 

 flowers and dark-green leaves. They 

 were obtained by crossing some of the 

 best of Crozy 's seedlings with C.flaccida ; 

 but the petals are not firm enough to 

 stand our English out -door climate. 

 They are, however, first-rate plants for 

 the greenhouse and stove. The best 

 of them are Italia, Austria, America, 

 and Burbank. 



Cultivation. — Cannas are useful as 

 pot-grown plants under glass — grown 

 in either large or small pots according 

 to the size of plants desired. They 

 flower freely out-of-doors when treated 

 as Dahlias, the tubers being started in 

 a greenhouse. Seeds from the best 

 varieties are offered by dealers, and 

 these yield a fair percentage of good 

 sorts, which are serviceable for ordinary 

 decoration both outside and under 

 glass. They are easily propagated by division 

 of the fleshy rhizomes in early spring; a bed of 

 cocoa-nut fibre with bottom-heat being a con- 

 venient and suitable material for them to root 

 in. They should be lifted and potted as soon 

 as they have made new growth and roots, plant- 

 ing them in rich, well-prepared ground when 

 danger from spring frost is past. They should 

 be thoroughly watered twice a week. In ordi- 

 nary seasons they flower from July until killed 

 down by the early frosts, when the roots should 



