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1. Every Friday post a photo that includes one or more flowers.
2. Please only post photos you have authority to use.
3. Include a link to this blog in your post - http://floralfridayfoto.blogspot.com/
4. Leave the link to your FloralFridayFoto post below on inlinkz.
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When to Post:
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Thursday 25 December 2014

FFF162 - CANNA

Canna (or canna lily, although not a true lily) is a genus of 19 species of flowering plants. The closest living relations to cannas are the other plant families of the order Zingiberales, that is the Zingiberaceae (gingers), Musaceae (bananas), Marantaceae, Heliconiaceae, Strelitziaceae. Canna is the only genus in the family Cannaceae. The APG II system of 2003 also recognises the family, and assigns it to the order Zingiberales in the clade commelinids, in the monocots. The genus is native to tropical and subtropical regions of the New World, from the southern United States (southern South Carolina west to southern Texas) and south to northern Argentina.

The species have large, attractive foliage, and horticulturists have turned it into a large-flowered and bright garden plant. In addition, it is one of the world's richest starch sources, and is an agricultural plant. Although a plant of the tropics, most cultivars have been developed in temperate climates and are easy to grow in most countries of the world as long as they receive at least 6–8 hours average sunlight during the summer, and are moved to a warm location for the winter. The name Canna originates from the Latin word for a cane or reed.

The flowers are typically red, orange, or yellow or any combination of those colours, and are aggregated in inflorescences that are spikes or panicles (thyrses). Although gardeners enjoy these odd flowers, nature really intended them to attract pollinators collecting nectar and pollen, such as bees, hummingbirds, sunbirds, and bats. The pollination mechanism is conspicuously specialised.

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9 comments:

  1. Wonderful summy mood

    Merry Christmas, Dear friend!
    Best wishes from Ukraine!

    xoxo, Juliana | PJ’ Happies :) | PJ’ Ecoproject

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  2. Didn't know starch could be this beautiful! Hope you had a joyful Christmas!

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  3. Back again... when I clicked back to my blog, the text did not appear (only the header). Wonder if it is because I put a perma link in this time? Which I did, because Festive Touches (and the flower) is underneath my last post. Will check back Friday if I need to put a new link in.

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  4. I didn't know it is an agricultural plant! I use to plant them in containers. Love the decorative leaves, too.
    Merry Christmas!

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  5. Canna makes a big impact in the border! Beautiful flowers. I never grow them in my borders. I don't have room. Groetjes, Hetty

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  6. Okay, to get back to you about the links. no. 9 does not work, but no. 19 does work!

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  7. Best wishes for the season Nick.
    Sorry, I forgot the FFF link this week.
    What a terrific colour for the Canna, which I only knew in red. Don't they make up difficult names for these plants. No chance of ever remembering any :-)
    I wonder what part contains the starchf and if it is truly fit for consumtion.

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