Canna ‘Phœbe’

A tall Italian Group cultivar; dark green foliage, oval shaped, maroon margin, upright habit; oval stems, coloured purple; flowers are open, self-coloured orange-red, staminodes are large, edges lightly frilled, petals purple with farina, fully self-cleaning, late bloomer; seed is sterile, pollen is low fertile; rhizomes are thick, up to 3 cm in diameter, coloured purple; tillering is average.

Introduced by C. Sprenger, Dammann & Co., Naples, Italy, EU. Synonym: C. ‘Fire Red’

Canna ‘Partenope’

A medium sized Italian Group cultivar; green foliage, large, ovoid shaped, maroon margin, upright habit; triangular stems, coloured green + purple; panicles of flowers are open, red-orange and burnt-red, throat orange-yellow with red-orange spots, staminodes are large, edges frilled, petals purple, fully self-cleaning; seed is sterile, pollen is low fertile; rhizomes are thick, up to 3 cm in diameter, coloured white and purple; tillering is prolific.
Introduced by C. Sprenger, Dammann & Co., Naples, Italy, EU in 1897. Synonyms: C. ‘Orange Beauty’, C. ‘Parthenope’

Canna ‘Kronos’

A medium sized Italian Group cultivar; green foliage, oval shaped, branching habit; panicles of flowers are open, yellow with orange spots, staminodes are large, edges irregular, fully self-cleaning, good bloomer; seed is sterile, pollen is low fertile; rhizomes are thick, up to 3 cm in diameter, coloured white; tillering is average.

Introduced by C. Sprenger, Dammann and Co., Naples, Italy, EU. Featured in the 1908 RHS outdoor trials at Wisley, without award.

Canna ‘Austria’

A medium sized aquatic Italian Group cultivar, equally at home as a water marginal or in the border; green foliage, oblong shaped, upright habit; flowers are cupped, self-coloured yellow, throat red spots on yellow, staminodes are large, edges regular, fully self-cleaning, good bloomer; seed is sterile, pollen is low fertile; rhizomes are long and thin, coloured white; tillering is prolific. 

Introduced by C. Sprenger, Dammann and Co., Naples, Italy, EU in 1893. Announced along with C. ‘Italia’, caused much interest as their large flowers were considered to be a major breakthrough. Herr Sprenger crossed C. ‘Madame Crozy’ with C. flaccida ‘Le Roi’. Synonyms: C. ‘Austra’, C. ‘Canary Bird’, C. ‘Lemon Zest’, C. ‘Richard Wallace’, C. ‘Souvenir de Jeanne’

Canna ‘Australia’

A tall Italian Group cultivar; bronze foliage, ovoid shaped, maroon margin, upright habit; flowers are open, self-coloured red-orange, staminodes are large, edges frilled, petals purple with farina, fully self-cleaning, average bloomer; seed is sterile, pollen is low fertile; rhizomes are thick, up to 3 cm in diameter, coloured purple; tillering is average.

Introduced by C. Sprenger, Dammann and Co., Naples, Italy, EU in 1906.

Canna ‘Partenope’

A medium sized Italian Group cultivar; green foliage, large, ovoid shaped, maroon margin, upright habit; triangular stems, coloured green + purple; panicles of flowers are open, red-orange and burnt-red, throat orange-yellow with red-orange spots, staminodes are large, edges frilled, petals purple, fully self-cleaning; seed is sterile, pollen is low fertile; rhizomes are thick, up to 3 cm in diameter, coloured white and purple; tillering is prolific.

Introduced by C. Sprenger, Dammann & Co., Naples, Italy, EU in 1897. Synonyms: C. ‘Orange Beauty’, C. ‘Parthenope’

Pandora’s box of tricks, 1897

Garden and forest. / Volume 10, Issue 512. [December 15, 1897, 489-498]

More Orchid-flowering Cannas.

PANDORA is another of the Orchid-flowering Cannas from the list of Dammann & Co. We have the variety from the originators, and have been enjoying its blossoms in the greenhouse since September. The plant is dwarf, growing about three feet high. But these are young plants closely potted in the house, so that we may expect a larger growth of strong plants out-of-doors. The foliage is very dark red, splashed with lighter greenish red. The flowers most closely resemble those of America, described in GARDEN AND FOREST, vol. x., p. I78, with the attractive, full-rounded form of those of Italia, with reflexed petals (not staminodia). The petal-like staminodia are bright, fiery cherry-red, heavily splashed and overlaid with a darker velvety red, giving a peculiarly rich appearance. Pandora and America please us the best of all the Italian or Orchid-flowering sorts.

The varieties Bavaria and Burgundia (Dammann) have also been in blossom with us since September 13th. These are both of comparatively dwarf habit, the foliage being smaller and narrower than in the better-known Italia, Austria and Burbank. They both give blossoms of the Italia type, it being frequently difficult or entirely impossible to separate the three, Bavaria, Burgundia and Italia, by the blossoms alone. Bavaria tends to have more solid red at the centre, so that it becomes rather a yellow-bordered flower, of somewhat the same marking as Queen Charlotte; Burgundia is more spotted and looks a trifle more like Florence Vaughan; Bavaria usually has upright petals, while Burgundia commonly shows its Canna flaccida parentage in reflexed petals. We had Italia and Austria in large beds on the open lawn throughout the summer, where they gave moderate satisfaction. Their large growth and heavy luxuriant leaves give a fresh, semitropical foliage effect worth consideration; but the blossoms are not, upon outdoor plants, an item of much importance.

University of Vermont. Professor F. A. Waugh.

Canna ‘America’ arrives

Garden and forest. / Volume 10, Issue 480. [May 5, 1897, 171-180]

Canna, America. – We have just had this Canna in flower, the third in Dammann’s list of so-called “Orchid-flowering” Cannas. It has been something of a surprise to us, for in some way we had formed the notion that it was inferior to Italia and Austria. In our present opinion, however, it ranks above both. The foliage seems to be stronger and tougher, and is of a color much harder to get in Cannas. It is dark bronzy-red, with irregular and inconspicuous dashes of lighter greenish color. The flowering-stem is tall and strong, bearing a large spike of flowers of the form and size of Italia. They are, however, of a most rare and striking color, a sort of brilliant apricot-red faintly spotted with darker salmon. The centre is canary-yellow, marked with the apricot-red of the body color, very much after the pattern of Austria and Burbank, except that in America the centre is lighter-colored than the wings. The blossoms are richer in appearance than any of the earlier Orchid-flowering Cannas. They do not appear to be better in substance, though; and this seems likely to prevent the general use of all the Canna flacida crosses in outdoor bedding. If it were not for this flabby quality of their blossoms they would soon very largely supersede the French dwarf Cannas for all classes of ornamental work.

University of Vermont. F. A. Waugh.

Here is a link to Canna ‘America’ on the veritable Karchesky & Harris canna web site.

Footnote:

At Claines Canna, we have never been successful with this cultivar, each accession has been suffering badly with Canna virus, and so we have no photograph of our own to accompany this article.

Was the eruption of Mount Vesuvius the cause?

Mount Vesuvius, outside Napoli, Italy, is one of the world’s most dangerous volcanoes. The volcano has an eruption cycle of about 20 years, but the last eruption was in 1944. The volcano is rated as one of the most dangerous in the world due to the close proximity of millions of people. Famously, in 79 AD an eruption of the volcano destroyed Pompei and its remains are a popular tourist attraction south of Napoli. However, the eruption that interests us took place on 4th April, 1906, when Dr Carl Ludwig Sprenger, a German botanist and a partner in the world renowned horticultural establishment of Dammann & Co. of San Giovanni a Teduccio, Napoli, found himself the victim of another eruption of this volcanic monster.

Sprenger was the creator of many Cannas, and the Italian Group is named in deference to his production of new cannas. The eruption buried his plants under volcanic ash, destroying hundreds of his best specimens. Some survived, and the establishment attempted to continue, but the following year when Sprenger was offered the role of supervisor of the Kaiser’s garden at Achilleion, a garden with a palace on the island of Corfu (Kerkyra), which he accepted and moved much of his plant material to the palace gardens.

In 1909 the Royal Horticultural Society granted its Award of Merit to the last known Canna produced by Sprenger, Canna ‘Roi Humbert’. Sprenger said at the time that this Canna would surprise the horticultural world. It is the result of a backcrossing of C. ‘Madame Crozy’ x C. ‘Italia’, the latter being C. ‘Madame Crozy’ x C. flaccida.

Canna ‘Roi Humbert’ is an Italian Group cultivar; it has bronze foliage, ovoid shaped, with a spreading habit; distinctive stems, are coloured purple; flowers are open, turning to reflexed, self-coloured tomato-red, staminodes are large, edges irregular, fully self-cleaning; seed is sterile, pollen is sterile; rhizomes are thick, up to 3 cm in diameter, coloured purple; the tillering capability is good. It was confirmed to be a triploid, see Khoshoo, T.N. & Guha, I, Origin and Evolution of Cultivated Cannas, Vikas, India. It has been sold under several synonyms, including C. ‘King Humbert’, C. ‘King of Prussia’, C. ‘New Red’, ‘C. ‘Red King’.

As Sprenger predicted, it did cause a sensation, when sometime later, C. ‘King Humbert’, as it is known in much of the English speaking world, prided a chimera mutation, which Luther Burbank, California, USA, called Canna ‘Yellow King Humbert’. That has gone on to acquire many synonyms of its own, notables being C. ‘Cleopatra’, C. ‘Goldkrone’, C. ‘Harlequin’, C. ‘Queen Helena’, C. ‘Queen of Italy’, C. ‘Yellow Humbert’. It may be that these are not synonyms at all, but separate mutations; however, our plant material is so mixed that we cannot identify such circumstances.

Canna ‘Yellow King Humbert’ is a medium sized Italian Group cultivar; foliage green, but often variegated purple markings and occasionally whole leaves purple, oval shaped, spreading habit; oval stems, coloured green + purple; flower clusters are cupped, spotted, colours yellow with red spots, often large red markings and occasionally whole staminodes or even the whole flower red, staminodes are large; seed is sterile, pollen is sterile; rhizomes are long and thin, coloured white and purple; tillering is prolific.

But the story does not end there, as Canna ‘Yellow King Humbert’ also has a trick up its sleeve, when it mutates again and produces a new cultivar, similar to its original mutation parent, the first of these secondary mutations was named C. ‘Red King Humbert’.

It is recognizably different from C. ‘Roi Humbert’, having retained the cupped shape flower of C. ‘Yellow King Humbert’ and the colour is a scarlet red, rather than the tomato-red of the former. It has repeated that trick on several occasions and we now have similar cultivars resulting from this further mutation.

Maybe they are all the same plant, but until a scientific analysis of these specimens is performed, we will not know. In the meantime, I intend to enjoy them all. Other names that spring to mind are C. ‘Zulu Maiden’, C. ‘Red Cleopatra”, C. ‘Patrick’s Red’.

A mutation can be caused by copying errors in the genetic material during cell division, by exposure to radiation, chemical mutagens, viruses, or under cellular control during meiosis or other extreme stress conditions. Was the hot volcanic ash of Mount Vesuvius the cause of the chimeric mutation found in Canna ‘Roi Humbert’?

We will never know for certain, but the dates of these events are such that it is highly probable that our favourite Canna chimera is a direct result of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 1906.

Comparison of Crozy and Italian Groups

We have two old prints to illustrate the differences between the Crozy Group and the Italian Group of Cannas. The prints date from the late 1800’s when these two groups were being created and perpetuated.

The two prints together illustrate so well the difference between the Crozy Group and the Italian Group that followed. The first print shows the narrower petals of the gladiolus-type French canna and the right shows the so-called, orchid-type ‘Italian Job’, with petals (really staminodes) that are large, showy, crinkled edges and inclined to be a little floppy (flaccid), showing their descent from the USA species C. flaccida. In addition, the lip (labellum) is larger than the petals.

Comparison of the two basic canna types Character Crozy Group Italian Group Cultivars Crozy, Alipore, Gladiolus or French Dwarf cannas, x generalis. Italian, Iris, Orchid, Burbank, or Giant flowered cannas, x orchiodes. Flower Diameter: Medium to large, less than 12.5cm Very large, 12.5cm to 21cm Colour: Many Bright yellow to deep red striped or splashed. Not pink or clear white. Petals: Narrow, erect or ascending. Reflexed after about the first day. Tube: About 1.25cm cm. long, not longer than sepals. About 2.5 cm. or more, much longer than sepals. Staminodia: Narrow to broad, mostly erect or strongly upright, well separated in outline. Space between staminodes. Broad and soft with flowing outline, lip funnel-form at the base. Staminodes make a full circle when formally arranged. Fertility Pollen: 50-80% 40-60% Seed: 1-19 seeds per capsule Sterile

References

Khoshoo, T.N. & Guha, I. – Origin and Evolution of Cultivated Cannas. Vikas Publishing House.