''Canna flaccida'', sometimes referred to as the bandanna of the Everglades, is a species of the ''Canna'' genus, a member of the family

Cannaceae ''Canna'' or canna lily is a genus of flowering plants consisting of 10 species. It is the only genus in the family Cannaceae.The Cannaceae of the World, H. Maas-van der Kamer & P.J.M. Maas, BLUMEA 53: 247–318 All of the genus's species a ...

. The species is indigenous to the wetlands of the south-central and south-eastern United States from

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

. It is also reportedly naturalized in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, the

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, the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

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and southern

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. ''Canna flaccida'' was a parent to many of the early-hybridised cannas originally known as orchid flowered cannas, but now correctly named as Italian Group cannas. It grows well as a water canna. Originally described by the early American explorer,

William Bartram William Bartram (April 20, 1739 – July 22, 1823) was an American naturalist, writer and explorer. Bartram was the author of an acclaimed book, now known by the shortened title Bartram's ''Travels'', which chronicled his explorations of the S ...

, when he found these plants blooming near the rivers of coastal

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. The seed floats down the rivers and becomes easily established on shorelines. Introduced to England in 1788. ''Canna flaccida'' is a

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

growing to . It is hardy to zone 10 and is frost tender. In the north latitudes it is in flower from August to October, and the seeds ripen in October. The flowers are

hermaphrodite A hermaphrodite () is a sexually reproducing organism that produces both male and female gametes. Animal species in which individuals are either male or female are gonochoric, which is the opposite of hermaphroditic. The individuals of many ...

Taxonomy

In the last three decades of the 20th century, ''Canna'' species have been categorised by two different

taxonomists In biology, taxonomy () is the scientific study of naming, defining ( circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxa (singular: taxon), and these groups are given ...

Paulus Johannes Maria Maas Paulus Johannes Maria "Paul" Maas (born 27 February 1939, in Arnhem) is a botanist from the Netherlands and a specialist in the flora of the neotropics. Maas has identified and named about two hundred fifty plants from the Burmanniaceae, the Costu ...

from

the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and

Nobuyuki Tanaka is an economic botanist at the Tokyo Metropolitan University, the Makino Botanical Garden in Kōchi Prefecture, Japan. Tanaka is an expert on the family Cannaceae ''Canna'' or canna lily is a genus of flowering plants consisting of 10 sp ...

from

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. In this case both agree that ''C. flaccida'' is a distinct species, and the DNA work by Prince and Kress at the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

confirms its uniqueness.

Description

''Canna flaccida'' is aquatic species, with narrow, blue-green (glaucous) leaves, very pretty, large, lightly perfumed, canary yellow flowers growing in clusters at the tops of long stalks. The lip of the flower is wavy. Flowers emerge in the evening and wither in the heat of the following day, the only member of the genus that behaves in this manner, all others open early in the morning and are strong enough to survive at least one day. It grows as a marginal plant in up to about of still or slow-moving water.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3927325 flaccida Flora of the Southern United States Plants described in 1791 Garden plants

Taxonomy

Description

See also

References