Canna

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About Canna
Wikipedia Article About Canna on Wikipedia

Canna (Canna, or sometimes confusingly, "Canna lily") is a genus of nine or ten species of flowering plants, the only genus in the family Cannaceae. 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) south to northern Argentina.

The plants are large tropical and subtropical perennial herbs with broad flat leaves that grow out of a stem in a long narrow roll and then unfurl. The flowers are typically red, orange, or yellow or any combination of those colors. The wild species often grow to 2-3+ meters but there is a wide variation in size among cultivated plants; numerous cultivars have been selected for smaller stature. The leaves are typically solid green but some cultivars have brownish, maroon, or even variegated leaves. The flowers attract hummingbirds. All cannas are native to the New World, although some species are cultivated and naturalized in other tropical regions. Cannas (particularly C. indica) are sometimes known as "Indian Shot", as their seeds are small, round, and hard like bird shot.