Italia

Canna 'Italia'

(Italian Group)(Heritage Group)

Origin SPRENGER Karl
Parentage Madame Crozy x flaccida
Height Medium, over 3ft/90cm
Foliage Green
Form Upright
Flower Multi-coloured
Blooming Good bloomer
Flowering Early summer to frosts
Tillering Average
Awards RHS Award of Merit,1896
Available General

Introduced by Karl Sprenger of Messrs Dammann et Cie, Italy in 1894, Canna 'Italia' is a medium sized Italian Group cultivar; green foliage, oval shaped, acute apex, upright habit; oval main stems, coloured green; spikes of flowers are open, canary-yellow with cardinal-red blotches, throat cardinal-red, staminodes are large, edges frilled, labellum is red, stamen is cardinal-red with a wide canary-yellow margin, style is red, petals red with farina, fully self-cleaning, good bloomer, flowers in early summer until frosts, blooms open in the early morning; seed is sterile, pollen is low fertile; rhizomes are long and thin, coloured white and purple; tillering is average.

This cultivar can always be recognised from other Italian Group members with similar colouring by the notch on the labellum (lip), which I have noted is always there.. 

Canna 'Italia' was awarded RHS Award of Merit,1896; is generally available; breeding is Madame Crozy x flaccida.

Announced along with C. 'Austria' in 1894, these two new cultivars caused a sensation at that time, producing much larger flowers than the Crozy Group had been capable of producing.

References

RHS Award of Merit (J. Veitch 1896)

RHS Journal of 1896-7

Peter Henderson & Co, Catalogue 1897

The new Giant Orchid-flowered Canna. The flower as illustrated opposite (great colour plate) has five petals, but frequently there are six in each flower. The growth is stately, in ordinary seasons reaching six feet, broad and massive, beauty and strength combined, a wealth of graceful foliage and gorgeous flowers.

Railton & Co., Australia, 1900-1903

ITALIA. It is of a bright orange scarlet, with a very broad golden yellow border; the flowers, which are produced on massive stems about sixteen inches long, are set well above the foliage; the foliage is large and heavy, similar to that of the Musa Enswete. 1/6 each

RHS Journal of 1907-8

RHS Journal of 1908-9

Featured in 1908 outdoor trials at Wisley. Orchid-flowered, green foliage and yellow flowers marked with red.

Cassells Dictionary of Practical Gardening, Walter P. Wright, 1910

Italian, or Orchid-like orange and scarlet, flowers with a yellow margin. Green foliage.

Conard & Jones Catalogue, 1915

Orchoides. Italia. 4 feet. Brilliant red; bordered yellow.

L. Clause Catalogue, Spring 1929

Italia. – Feuillage vert. Fleur jaune foncé et rouge brun. Haut. 1 m. 40.

Tropical Plants and Gardening, H.F. MacMillan, 1935

Yellow ground, crimson centre, Orchid flowered.

Tropical Planting and Gardening, H.F. MacMillan, 5th Edition, 1954

Orchid-flowered yellow ground, crimson centre.

Canna Handbook, Keith Hayward. Edition 1.06. © September 2000

C Sprenger 1893. An historic Italian Canna. An enormous flat flower which is bright yellow around the outer part, with a large dark red blotch and blobs towards the centre. Foliage bright green. Tall, up to 2m

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.

Ian Cooke, The Gardeners Guide to Growing Cannas

(T) This splendid cultivar has monumental flowers like enormous Cattleya orchids. They are wavy petalled, bright yellow and heavily blotched and spotted with tomato-red. The lower petal is almost entirely red with a narrow yellow margin. This stately plant has enormous, waxy, glaucous-green leaves and is very vigorous and tall. It was raised by Karl Sprenger in 1893 and is said to be a cross between ‘Mme. Crozy’ and C. flaccida 'Le Roi'. This was the first of the ‘new’ orchid flowering Cannas and caused a sensation when it was first released. Not readily available.

Bernard Yorke, Australia

Yellow with an orange lip.

The Canna Company Catalogue (Ian Cooke) Feb 13 2002, Internet

The most exciting Canna I have ever grown! This was the rave novelty for 1893 and marked the first of the new large orchid flowered Cannas. It has been re-introduced from India. A very vigorous plant with huge grey-green paddle leaves. Flowers are 6·5 inches across with delicately wavy petals. Outer parts of the flower are buttercup yellow marked with tomato-red blotches that merge into a rich scarlet centre. A real show stopper.

KAVB International Canna Checklist, September 2004

(‘Madame Crozy’ x flaccida ‘Le Roi’) Karl Sprenger, 1893; flowers spotted with red towards the throat, leaves green, height over 80 cm. A.M.-R.H.S. 1896

Claines Canna Collection 2006

Summary: A tall and vigorous unmistakeable specimen with enormous, waxy, glaucous-green leaves. The flowers are wavy-pettalled, coloured a bright yellow with tomato-red heavy blotches and spots.
Size: Tall and vigorous. Flower: Wavy pettalled, a very bright yellow with tomato-red heavy blotches and spots. The labellum (aka the lip) is always almost entirely red with a narrow yellow margin. Foliage: Enormous, waxy, glaucous-green leaves.
Origin: Raised by Karl Sprenger in 1893. A cross between C. 'Madame Crozy' and C. flaccida. The first of the 'orchid' type canna, it caused a sensation when it was first released. 

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