Complex hybrids grown for the bold foliage effect (some cultivars have purple or variegated leaves), or for the brilliantly coloured flowers in summer bedding schemes.
The breeding background of garden hybrids is complex, involving many species. The cultivars (now over 1000) display a range of heights, foliage colours and flower colours. They have been grouped together as F.M. Bailey with the name C. ×orchioides F.M. Bailey sometimes used for those derived from C. flaccida which have orchid-like flowers. Extensive breeding has now blurred the difference between them and all are now treated as C. ×generalis. They flower in summer.
Garden Origin
C. indica L., Indian Shot from South America, which flowers mostly in spring to summer, is occasionally cultivated; it is naturalised on disturbed land and along creeks in New South Wales and Queensland. The seeds are hard, round and black like shot.
Source: (2005). Cannaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 5. Flowering plants. Monocotyledons. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.
