A few plants have just sprung up in a couple of neglected pots.
They are either canna or hedechium but having looked at the leaves of both
canna and hedechium I can not see any particular difference.
What way can I distinguish between the two?

Post removed (X-No-Archive: yes)

"Rupert (W.Yorkshire)" <reply [at] newsgroups.com> wrote in message
news:4485fe19 [at] 212.67.96.135...
>A few plants have just sprung up in a couple of neglected pots.
> They are either canna or hedechium but having looked at the leaves of both
> canna and hedechium I can not see any particular difference.
> What way can I distinguish between the two?

Cannas tend to have somewhat broader leaves. Wait a bit longer and this will
be more visible,
The rhizomes of hedechium are more like that of an iris.
Jenny

"JennyC" <Jenny.squirrel [at] chello.nl> wrote in message
news:4en4oqF1eg8i0U1 [at] individual.net...
>
> "Rupert (W.Yorkshire)" <reply [at] newsgroups.com> wrote in message
> news:4485fe19 [at] 212.67.96.135...
>>A few plants have just sprung up in a couple of neglected pots.
>> They are either canna or hedechium but having looked at the leaves of
>> both canna and hedechium I can not see any particular difference.
>> What way can I distinguish between the two?
>
> Cannas tend to have somewhat broader leaves. Wait a bit longer and this
> will be more visible,
> The rhizomes of hedechium are more like that of an iris.
> Jenny
>
I shall have patience. I wonder what canna root taste like in Ginger
pudding:-)

Rupert (W.Yorkshire) wrote:
> "JennyC" <Jenny.squirrel [at] chello.nl> wrote in message
> news:4en4oqF1eg8i0U1 [at] individual.net...
> >
> > "Rupert (W.Yorkshire)" <reply [at] newsgroups.com> wrote in message
> > news:4485fe19 [at] 212.67.96.135...
> >>A few plants have just sprung up in a couple of neglected pots.
> >> They are either canna or hedechium but having looked at the leaves of
> >> both canna and hedechium I can not see any particular difference.
> >> What way can I distinguish between the two?
> >
> > Cannas tend to have somewhat broader leaves. Wait a bit longer and this
> > will be more visible,
> > The rhizomes of hedechium are more like that of an iris.
> > Jenny
> >
> I shall have patience. I wonder what canna root taste like in Ginger
> pudding:-)

In my experience Hedychium have more of a defined "stem" with the
leaves separately spaced along it. The pseudostem of Canna is more
like that of a banana.

"Ornata" <Isabel_Sinha [at] hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1149690826.487902.199860 [at] h76g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> Rupert (W.Yorkshire) wrote:
>> "JennyC" <Jenny.squirrel [at] chello.nl> wrote in message
>> news:4en4oqF1eg8i0U1 [at] individual.net...
>> >
>> > "Rupert (W.Yorkshire)" <reply [at] newsgroups.com> wrote in message
>> > news:4485fe19 [at] 212.67.96.135...
>> >>A few plants have just sprung up in a couple of neglected pots.
>> >> They are either canna or hedechium but having looked at the leaves of
>> >> both canna and hedechium I can not see any particular difference.
>> >> What way can I distinguish between the two?
>> >
>> > Cannas tend to have somewhat broader leaves. Wait a bit longer and this
>> > will be more visible,
>> > The rhizomes of hedechium are more like that of an iris.
>> > Jenny
>> >
>> I shall have patience. I wonder what canna root taste like in Ginger
>> pudding:-)
>
> In my experience Hedychium have more of a defined "stem" with the
> leaves separately spaced along it. The pseudostem of Canna is more
> like that of a banana.
>
Thanks that's solved the problem. Never noticed the pseudostem of Canna.
I have a Ginger of some sort.
Now all I need to do is find out how I tell the difference between C.
musifolia and the bananas:-)

"JennyC" <Jenny.squirrel [at] chello.nl> wrote in message
news:4en4oqF1eg8i0U1 [at] individual.net...
>
> "Rupert (W.Yorkshire)" <reply [at] newsgroups.com> wrote in message
> news:4485fe19 [at] 212.67.96.135...
> >A few plants have just sprung up in a couple of neglected pots.
> > They are either canna or hedechium but having looked at the leaves of
both
> > canna and hedechium I can not see any particular difference.
> > What way can I distinguish between the two?
>
> Cannas tend to have somewhat broader leaves. Wait a bit longer and this
will
> be more visible,
> The rhizomes of hedechium are more like that of an iris.
> Jenny
>
If you scratch or bruise hedychium there is a distinct smell of ginger (also
less holes due to snails!)

--
Charlie, gardening in Cornwall.
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of National Plant Collection of Clematis viticella (cvs)