Canna indica
species of plant
Canna indica, commonly known as Indian shot, African arrowroot, edible canna, purple arrowroot, Sierra Leone arrowroot, is a plant species in the family Cannaceae. It is native to the Americas and naturalized elsewhere. The edible rhizomes are a source of starch.
Description
Canna indica is a perennial growing to between 0.5 and 2.5 metres (1+1⁄2 and 8 feet), depending on the variety. It is hardy to zone 10 and is frost tender. The plants form an upright, unbranched stem or the overlapping leaf sheaths form a pseudo trunk.
It forms branched rhizomes 60 centimetres (24 inches) long that are divided into bulbous segments and covered in two lines by pale green or purple flaky leaves. The surface of the rhizome is carved by transverse grooves, which mark the base of scales that cover it. From the lower part white and apex rootlets emerge, where there are numerous buds, the leaves sprout, the floral stem and the stems. The very large grains of starch can supposedly be seen with the naked eye.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Canna indica” as species of plant. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the science & nature register because the source frames it as species of plant. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q163559. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
Scientific names, classifications and consensus can change while older terminology persists in catalogues and historical literature. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Canna indica” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.