Ratchkapur

Canna (Canna or Canna lily although not a true lily) is a genus of nineteen species of flowering plants, the only genus in the family Cannaceae. The species have large, attractive foliage and horticulturalists have turned it 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.
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. See the Canna cultivar gallery for photographs of Canna cultivars.
Monsieur E. Chaté in his published work, Le Canna of 1866, the earliest book devoted to the Canna genus, described its early history. He stated that (translated from the French):
«The first Cannas introduced to Europe came from the East Indies, but all originated from America, their native land. Charles de l'Ecluse, who first described and sketched Canna indica in his History of the rare plants observed in Spain, published in 1576, indicates this origin, and states that it was given the name of indica, not because the plant is from India, in Asia, but because this species was originally transported from America: «Quia ex America primum delata sit»; and at that time, one described the tropical areas of this part of the sphere as the Western Indies; the English still call them the West Indies.
Much later, in 1658, Pison made reference, in his «Natural History of Brazil», to another species which he documented under the vulgar name of Albara and Pacivira, and which resided, he said, in the shaded and damp places, between the tropics; this species is Canna angustifolia, of Linné (later reclassified as C. glauca L. by taxonomists).
Without exception, all Canna species that have been introduced into Europe can be traced back to the American continent. Thus it can be asserted, without fear of contradiction, that the true fatherland of Canna is the Americas. If Asia and Africa provided some of the early introductions, they are only varieties resulting from C. indica and C. glauca cultivars that have grown for a long time in India and Africa, but not from the species really growing in a spontaneous state.
It is quite certain, as it is pointed out by Lamarck, in his Botanical Encyclelopédie, that «Cannas were unknown to the ancients, and that it is only after the discovery of the New World, that they made their appearance in Europe; whereas if the soil of India, in Asia, had produced some of them, they would not have waited until the 1860’s, to make an incursion into the European gardens.»
Some species and many cultivars are widely grown in the garden in temperate and sub-tropical regions. Sometimes they may also be grown as potted plants. A large number of ornamental cultivars have been developed. They can be used in herbaceous borders, tropical plantings, and as a patio or decking plant.
The canna rhizome of is rich in starch, and it has many uses in agriculture. All of the plant has commercial value, rhizomes for starch (consumption by humans and livestock), stems and foliage for animal fodder, young shoots as a vegetable and young seeds as an addition to tortillas.
Cannas (particularly C. indica) are sometimes known as «Indian Shot», as their seeds are small, round, and hard like bird shot. The seeds are used as pearls in jewelry and as the mobile elements of the kayamb, a musical instrument from Réunion, as well as the hosho, a gourd rattle from Zimbabwe, where the seeds are known as «hota» seeds.