Canna ‘Oiseau de Feu’ is a medium sized Crozy Group cultivar; green foliage, oval shaped, branching habit; oval main stems, coloured green; spikes of flowers are open, self-coloured blood-red (RHS 45B, staminodes are medium size, edges irregular, fully self-cleaning, outstanding bloomer, blooms open in the early morning; fertile both ways, not self-pollinating or true to type, capsules globose; rhizomes are thick, up to 3 cm in diameter, coloured purple; tillering is prolific.
Oiseau de feu. – Feuillage vert. Fleur rouge cardinal. Variété de très bonne tenue, étoffé et florifère, incomparable pour massifs et groupes. Haut 1 m. 10.
Vilmorin Catalogue, 1941
(V. 1911).
Feuillage vert. Grandes fleurs rouge cardinal unicolore. Hauteur 1 mt. 10
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Green foliage. Big uniformly coloured cardinal red flowers. Height 1 mt. 10.
Brockings Exotics Catalogue, 1997
(M) Scarlet flowers, like ‘Fireside’.
Old House Garden, Ann Arbor, Michigan Internet, November, 2000
Vilmorin-Andrieux 1911. Large red flower. Green foliage. Very tall (over150 cm).
Ian Cooke, The Gardeners Guide to Growing Cannas
(M) Scarlet flowers are produced over strong green foliage. It is very like ‘Fireside’, which quite possibly originated from it. It dates from 1911 and was raised by Vilmorin-Andrieux.
Ernest Turc, Angers, France (Translated from the French)
Very beautiful brilliant red flowers, to 1·1m.
French Grown Stock
0.8m. Green foliage. Shining red flowers.
KAVB International Canna Checklist, September 2004
‘Firebird’ is a synonym.
Vilmorin-Andrieux, 1911; flowers blood-red (RHS 45B, leaves green, height over 80 cm. F.C.C.-B.C. 1913
Summary: A tidy, small plant with greenish blue foliage and small red flowers.
Size: Small, 0.6-1m ( 2′-3′)
Flower: Small red flowers
Foliage: Greenish blue.
Origin: Introduced by the venerable French firm of Vilmorin-Andrieux in 1911.
