Perennial, rhizomatous herbs. Aerial stems erect, unbranched. Leaves alternate, spiral or 2- ranked, blade with lateral parallel veins diverging from prominent midrib; leaf base sheathing, sheaths overlapping and supporting stem; ligule absent. Inflorescence 1 per aerial shoot, terminal on leafy shoot, pedunculate racemes or panicles of flowers or 2-flowered monochasial cymes (cincinni); bracts of main axis subtending flowers or cincinni. Flowers bisexual, zygomorphic, epigynous, mostly large and showy, crimson red, red, orange-red to yellow. Sepals 3, green, free, imbricate, persistent. Petals 3, green or coloured, basally connate into a tube and adnate to staminodes. Staminodes and stamens in 2 whorls: outer whorl with (2 or) 3 conspicuous petaloid staminodes, red, orange -red or yellow; inner whorl with anterior reflexed staminode (labellum), narrower than outer staminodes and a posterior fertile stamen with petaloid staminode-like filament and 1-locular anther, adnate to apical margin of the filament. Carpels 3, syncarpous; ovary inferior, 3-locular, ovules few to many in each loculus, placentation axile; style petaloid; stigmatic area shaped as marginal callosity; petals, style, stamen and staminodes basally connate into a tube. Fruit a 3-valved capsule, usually warty; sepals persistent in fruit. Seeds many, globose.

One genus, 12 species

Canna indica