Galapagos Species Database

The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.

Canna indica L.

achira, platanillo, indian shot, queensland arrowroot, edible canna

Taxonomy

Domain
Eukaryota

Kingdom
Plantae

Phylum
Magnoliophyta

Class
Liliopsida (= Monocotyledoneae)

Order
Zingiberales

Family
Cannaceae

Genus
Canna

Species
indica

Taxon category: Accepted

Syn.: Canna lambertii Lindl. ex Ker Gawl. (POWO, 2022), C. edulis Ker Gawl., C. poeppigii Bouché fide Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Missouri Botanical Garden (2010)

Origin: Introduced - established

Introduction

Year of first record: 1991

Mode of introduction: Intentional

Introduction Pathway: Intentional

Subpathway: Agriculture/Horticulture

Introduced status: Naturalized

Invasive status: Potentially Invasive

Distribution

Map of specimen collection localities or observation records for this species in our collections database.

References

  • Adsersen, H. (1989) The Rare Plants of the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador and their Conservation. Biol. Conservation 47(1): 49-77.
  • Guézou, A. Trueman, M., Buddenhagen, E., Chamorro, S., Guerrero, A.M., Pozo, P., Atkinson, R. (2010) An extensive Alien Plan Inventory from the Inhabited Areas of Galapagos Plos One/ www.plosone.org. Volume 5/ Issue 4/e10276
  • Heleno, R. Blake, S., Jaramillo, P., Traveset, A., Vargas, P. & Nogales, M. (2011) Frugivory and seed dispersal in the Galápagos: what is the state of the art? Integrative Zoology 6: 110-128.
  • Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (2022) Plants of the world online POWO (2022): Plants of the world online. Published on the Internet; Https://powo.science.kew.org/
  • Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Missouri Botanical Garden (eds.) (2013) The Plant List, Version 1.1. Published on the Internet; http://www.theplantlist.org/ (accessed 1st January).
  • Schofield, E.K. (1973) Galapagos Flora: The Threat of Introduced Plants. Biol. Conservation 5(1): 48-51.
  • Tropicos.org. (2017) Database of Missouri Botanical Garden. Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden. 06 Oct 2017 <http://www.tropicos.org
  • Wiggins, I.L. Porter, D.M. (1971) Flora of the Galapagos Islands Standford University Press, Stanford.

You are welcome to download and use the information found in this page, acknowledging its source.

This page should be cited as follows:

"Galapagos Species Database, Canna indica", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=870. Accessed 4 April 2026.