Canna 'Roi Humbert 1st'

A medium sized Italian Group cultivar; bronze foliage, ovoid shaped, spreading habit; oval stems, coloured purple; panicles of flowers are cupped, self-coloured scarlet, staminodes are large, edges ruffled, fully self-cleaning, blooms open in the early morning; seed is sterile, pollen is sterile; rhizomes are thick, up to 3 cm in diameter, coloured purple; tillering is average.
Introduced by C. Sprenger, Damman & Co., Naples, Italy, EU in 1901. Sprenger stated "King Humbert will surprise the horticultural world".
The cultivar is the result of an F2 crossing involving C. 'Madame Crozy', C. flaccida and C. 'Italia'. Its rhizomes are heavily marked with maroon and have the shape of the indica side of the family, as do the leaves. The colour of the flower comes from the Crozy side, but the petal form is heavily influenced by the thinner and larger flaccida blooms.  The cultivar is a triploid, as verified by Dr Khoshoo. It was awarded the RHS Award of Merit in 1909
Synonyms: C. 'King Humbert', C. 'King of Prussia', C. 'Le Roi', C. 'New Red', C. 'Red King', C. 'Roi Humbert'