Canna 'Madame Paul Cazeneuve'

A medium sized Crozy Group cultivar; bronze foliage, oval shaped, maroon margin, spreading habit; panicles of flowers are open, self-coloured pink, throat pink with yellow stripes, staminodes are large; fertile both ways, not self-pollinating or true to type, capsules globose; rhizomes are thick, up to 3 cm in diameter, coloured pink and purple; tillering is prolific.

Introduced by A. Crozy, Lyon, France in 1902. Synonym: C. 'Madame Paul Caseneuve'. It was named for the glamorous wife of French-born actor Paul Cazeneuve (born May 11, 1871 in Paris, France) who spent 30 years on French and American stages supporting famous stars while starring in his own productions. Cazeneuve was made a director with the Fox company in 1920, when he took over direction on Buck Jones' first Western for the company, Square Shooter (1920). The original director, Charles Swickard, had found himself out of a job when William Fox termed the daily rushes "miserable, terrible, and rotten," but Cazeneueve's rescue did not further his fortunes with the company and he spent the remainder of his career playing supporting roles.