Canna ‘America’
(Italian Group)
ORIGIN SPRENGER Karl
PARENTAGE ‘President Carnot’ x flaccida ‘Le Roi’ in 1893.
HEIGHT Tall, 2-3 metres
FOLIAGE Bronze
FLOWER Red
FLOWERING Good bloomer
Canna ‘America’ is a tall Italian Group cultivar; bronze foliage; oval stems, coloured purple; flowers are open, orient-red (RHS 42A) with salmon spots, throat yellow, staminodes are large, good bloomer, blooms open in the early morning; seed is sterile, pollen is low fertile; rhizomes are thick, up to 3 cm in diameter.
This showy Italian Group cultivar was granted the RHS Award of Merit in 1897, and mention must be made of the outstanding farina ‘sheen’ on the stems and leaves.
Photograph courtesy of Ian Cooke.
Breeder: Karl Sprenger, Dammann & Co., Naples, Italy
Garden and forest. / Volume 10, Issue 480. [May 5, 1897, 171-180]
Canna, America.-We have just had this
Canna in flower, the third in Dammann’s list of so-called “
Orchid-flowering” Cannas. It has been something of a surprise to us, for in some way we had formed the notion that it was inferior to
Italia and
Austria. In our present opinion, however, it ranks above both. The foliage seems to be stronger and tougher, and is of a color much harder to get in Cannas. It is dark bronzy-red, with irregular and inconspicuous dashes of lighter greenish color. The flowering-stem is tall and strong, bearing a large spike of flowers of the form and size of
Italia.
They are, however, of a most rare and striking color, a sort of brilliant apricot-red faintly spotted with darker salmon. The centre is canary-yellow, marked with the apricot-red of the body color, very much after the pattern of
Austria and
Burbank, except that in America the centre is lighter-colored than the wings. The blossoms are richer in appearance than any of the earlier
Orchid-flowering Cannas. They do not appear to be better in substance, though; and this seems likely to prevent the general use of all the
Canna flacida crosses in outdoor bedding. If it were not for this flabby quality of their blossoms they would soon very largely supersede the French dwarf Cannas for all classes of ornamental work.
University of Vermont. Professor F. A. Waugh.
Breeder: Karl Sprenger, Dammann & Co., Naples, Italy
RHS Journal of 1898-9
Lists
Magnificent bronzy foliage marbled with green, having a peculiar lustre , appearing as if varnished; flowers rich orange-salmon, feathered and veined with scarlet. 1/6 each.
RHS Journal of 1908-9!
Featured in 1908 Outdoor Trials at Wisley
Orchid flowered, orange-red flowers with dark foliage.
America. (Dam.) height of 200 cm. Leaves brown magenta roth. Flowers, very largely, fires roth, magenta-brown flamed, in the Centrum orange.
Breeder: Karl Sprenger, Dammann & Co., Naples, Italy, EU
Note: America. (Dam.) Höhe 200 cm. Laub braun purpur roth. Blumen, sehr groß, feuer roth, purpurbraun geflammt, im Centrum orangefarben.
Cassells Dictionary of Practical Gardening, Walter P. Wright, 1910
Italian, or
Orchid-like scarlet, orange, dark foliage.
L. Clause Catalogue, Spring 1929
America. – Feuillage verdâtre à reflets pourpres. Fleur énorme rouge feu sablé de pourpre orangé à l’intérieur. Haut. 1 m. 50.
Greenish foliage with reflections of crimson. Enormous flame red flower with orange crimson inside. Height. 1 m. 50.
John Telkamp, Holland, Catalogue 1935
America, velvety scarlet red flowers, handsome purple foliage.
RHS New Dictionary of Gardening, 1992
Lvs dark copper purple; fls red.
Flowers red. Leaves bronze. Tall
Canna Handbook, Keith Hayward. Edition 1.06. © September 2000
Red-flowered with green leaves. Tall.
Ian Cooke, The Gardeners Guide to Growing Cannas
(M) Sprenger, a partner in the nursery of Messrs Dammann near Naples, crossed C.
flaccida with C. ‘
Madame Crozy’ to produce C. ‘
Italia’. ‘Atlanta’, ‘America’, ‘
Austria’, ‘
Burgundia’, ‘Allemannia’, ‘
Britannia’ followed from the same breeding programme.
Breeder: Karl Sprenger, Dammann & Co., Naples, Italy
Ian Cooke, The Gardeners Guide to Growing Cannas
(M) This handsome old cultivar has intense scarlet flowers. The petals are long, thin and reflexed giving the bloom a very open, blowsy appearance. The leaves are a dark purplish-green with pronounced darker veins. There is an attractive white farina on the stems, which contrasts well with the deep red flowers. Raised by Karl Sprenger in 1893, it is very similar to ‘
Black Knight’ and ‘
Ambassador
Breeder: Karl Sprenger, Dammann & Co., Naples, Italy
Rivendell Botanic Garden, List January 2001
Red; red blue green
French Grown Stock
1.8m. Purple foliage. Dark orange-red flowers.
Podgora Gardens Catalogue, 2004
Brightest and deepest scarlet-red, bronze foliage. 105cm.
KAVB International
Canna Checklist, September 2004
(‘
President Carnot’ x
flaccida ‘Le Roi’)
Karl Sprenger, 1893; flowers orient-red (RHS 42A), brown leaves, height over 80 cm. A.M.-R.H.S 1897.
Breeder: Karl Sprenger, Dammann & Co., Naples, Italy
Claines
Canna Collection 2006
Summary: A heritage plant, tall in height with large, dark leaves and intense scarlet flowers. An architectural plant.
Size: Tall
Flower: Intense scarlet flowers, with long petals, thin and reflexed giving the bloom a very open, blowsy appearance.
Foliage: Large, dark purplish green with pronounced purple veins. There is an attractive white farina on the stems, which contrasts well with the deep red flowers.
Origin: Raised by Karl Sprenger in 1893, it is very similar to ‘
Black Knight’ and ‘
Ambassador’. We have grown all 3 together for 2 years from many sources and can see no visible differences. The other two have no history of their origins, and it is highly likely that they are only synonyms for
Canna ‘America’
Canna 'Allemania'
