Botanical name: Canna spp.    Family: Cannaceae (canna family)

Canna or Canna lily are extermely common garden plants, that have large, attractive foliage and horticulturists have turned them into a large, brash, bright and sometimes gaudy, garden plant. In addition, it is one of the world's richest starch sources, and is an agricultural plant. Though cannas are among our most common garden plants their flowers are among the most complex and hard to interpret. In canna flowers the bright "petals" are actually stamens modified to look like petals. Such modified stamens are often called staminodia. Atop the green, roundish ovary arise three small, usually green sepals, hidden by one of the petals in the image at the left, but visible in the next picture. There are also three petals, which can be green or colored. Although all cannas are native to the South America, they have followed mankind's journeys of discovery and some species are cultivated and naturalized in most tropical and sub-tropical regions.

Your name:
Your email:
Your comments
The flower labeled Canna is ...