Canna indica
Environmental Weed (2024)
Common names
Indian shot
Biostatus
Exotic
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Herbs - Monocots
Flower colours
Red/Pink, Yellow
Detailed description
Erect, leafy perennial herb to 1-2 m tall. Roots rhizomatous. Stem sturdy, unbranched, hairless. Leaves on the stem, to 45 x 15 cm, oblong, with prominent midrib, sheath below. Flowers often paired, 5-6 cm long, pinkish-red and reddish-yellow, with red spots. Seed capsule round, to 2 cm, with black seeds.
Similar taxa
Hybrid cannas (Canna x generalis) have a range of forms. a. Foliage green with large yellow flowers. b. Foliage green with large showy red flowers. c. Foliage purplish with large orange flowers. Hedychium sp. (ginger) are also similar lack the strongly ribbed leaves and have multiple flowers in each inflorescence.
Habitat
Terrestrial. Damp spots, wetlands, low-growing habitats, disturbed shrubland, streamsides, riversystems.
Conservation status
Not applicable
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Ecology
Flowering
November, December, February, March, April
Fruiting
January, March, April, May
Year naturalised
1870
Origin
West Indies, Central and South America.
Reason for introduction
Ornamental.
Tolerances
Tolerates hot to moderate temperature, damage and grazing, wind, salt, damp to mod dry. Intolerant of shade, heavy frost.
Life cycle and dispersal
Perennial. Usually spreads vegetaitively rather than by seed; seeds globose, black (Ewan Cameron 1996). Spread by dumped vegetation, soil movement, occasionally water movement.
Other information
Etymology
canna: Term is derived from a Greek name for a type of reed.
Environmental Weed (2024)
This plant is named in a list of 386 environmental weeds in New Zealand 2024 prepared by DOC. 759 candidate species were considered for inclusion on this new comprehensive list of environmental weeds in New Zealand. The species considered were drawn from published lists of weed species, lists of plants that must be reported or managed by law if observed, existing national and regional programmes and agreements for pest management, and species already managed by the Department of Conservation (DOC). Candidate species were then assessed to see if they were fully naturalised and whether they have more than minor impacts in natural ecosystems. Read the full report here.
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
CANIND
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Gardner, R. 1990. Canna. Auckland Botanical Society Journal, 45: 1-4.