ORIGIN Percy-Lancaster, S HEIGHT Tall FOLIAGE Purple FORM Arching FLOWER Red FLOWERING Low bloomer
Canna ‘Black Knight’ is a tall Crozy Group cultivar; purple foliage, oval shaped, arching habit; round stems, coloured purple; flowers are reflexed, self-coloured crimson-maroon, staminodes are large, edges regular, petals purple with farina, fully self-cleaning, low bloomer, blooms open in the early morning; seed is sterile, pollen is low fertile.
Blooms are crimson maroon, with dark foliage. Recommended for exhibition. Breeder: S. Percy-Lancaster, Alipore Cannas, Calcutta, India
Dr. Khoshoo & Dr. I. Guha: Evolution of Cultivated Canna 1966
x generalis, dwarf (50-80cm), foliage purple, broad staminodia (5-7 cm) self coloured. In the collection of the Royal Agri-Horticultural Society , Alipore, Calcutta, India.
RHS New Dictionary of Gardening, 1992
Lvs brown; fls red.
Brockings Exotics Catalogue, 1997
bronze foliage, very dark red aristocratic flowers, choice plant
Similar to ‘Assaut’, but a deeper velvety red. Petals are very large and relatively long, almost strap like. I have compared cultivars from various sources of the UK, and Dutch imports, and the USA, and they are the same. The long petals in a loose arrangement give the head an extravagant “Mop Head” appearance. The flower head are so large and heavy that they often bend over. Tall
Long velvety dark red petals which are somewhat strap-like, giving the flower the appearance of a “mop-head”. Grows tall, 2m or more, but not quite as tall as, say ‘Wyoming’ or ‘Roi Humbert’. Pale bronze foliage.
Ian Cooke, The Gardeners Guide to Growing Cannas
(syn. ‘Black Velvet’, possibly also a synonym for ‘Ambassador’) (T) ‘Black Knight’ is the name widely used in the British Isles for a cultivar with large, floppy, deep crimson flowers that have reflexed petals. The name also appears in Indian lists but is not registered. The stems bear an attractive contrasting white farina and the leaves are bluish-purple. It is readily available, but stocks are often not true to type.
Very tall. Bronze foliage. Deepest velvet-red flower with somewhat strap-shaped petals. Large mop-shaped flower head. Often seen as a centrepiece plant. £5.85 for 3 rhizomes.
Rivendell Botanic Garden, List January 2001
Dark red flowers, leaves red, blue and green medium height.
San Marcos Growers
Needs full sun and moderate water. Red flowers in summer-fall. 4-7 feet tall
TyTy Nursery, Internet, 2002, March
Red blooms with some red shadings in the leaves. A shy, late bloomer. To 5 feet.
Brent & Becky’s Bulbs, Summer 2002, Internet
Incredible mid-sized 3-4 ft. Canna; its almost black/green lance-shaped leaves give the illusion of a shadow to an otherwise sunny garden; deep scarlet flowers.
Canna ‘Black Knight’
