INDIAN SHOT / Canna indica

The seeds, round and bullet-like (that is why the plant is called Indian Shot), have been used as coffee substitutes, and to make rosaries (Coats. 1975). According to Burmese legend the canna sprang from sacred blood. Dewadat tried to kill the Buddha by pushing a great boulder on him as he passed by below. The boulder fell at the Buddha’s feet, bursting into a thousand fragments. A single fragment striking the Buddha’s toe, drew blood, from which the canna arose (Skinner). On the other hand, it is said in Ghana that a witch keeps the soul and blood of the people she has killed in a pot. It is not real blood, but the seed of Canna indica, one for each person killed (Debrunner). The analogy is with the red flower, red = blood.