Thalia dealbata, the powdery alligator-flag, hardy canna, or powdery thalia, is an aquatic plant in the family Marantaceae, native to swamps, ponds and other wetlands in the southern and central United States.Roscoe, William. 1807. Transactions of the Linnean Society of London 8: 340, Thalia dealbata Rafinesque, Constantine Samuel. 1838. Flora Telluriana 4: 51. Spirostylis biflora Its range includes much of Coastal Plains and the lower Mississippi Valley (States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois and Kentucky).Biota of North America Program, 2014 county distribution map, Thalia dealbata The plant has been grown as an aquatic ornamental because of the pretty violet flowers, and in cultivation has been proved hardy as far north as Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) and Vancouver (British Columbia).Flora of North America Thalia dealbataUnited States Department of Agriculture Plants ProfileLady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, University of Texas, Native Plant Database
Thalia dealbata grows to , with small violet flowers on an panicle held above the foliage. The blue-green leaves are ovate to lanceolate, dusted with white powder and with purple edges.Missouri Botanical Garden
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