Notable plant

• The seeds are used as beads in jewelry.
• The seeds are used as the mobile elements of the kayamb, a musical instrument from Réunion, as well as the hosho, a gourd rattle from Zimbabwe, where the seeds are known as "hota" seeds.
• In remoter regions of India, cannas are fermented to produce alcohol.
• The plant yields a fibre - from the stem - it is used as a jute substitute.
• A fibre obtained from the leaves is used for making paper. The leaves are harvested in late summer after the plant has flowered, they are scraped to remove the outer skin and are then soaked in water for 2 hours prior to cooking. The fibres are cooked for 24 hours with lye and then beaten in a blender. They make a light tan brown paper.
• A purple dye is obtained from the seed.
• Smoke from the burning leaves is said to be insecticidal.
• Cannas are used to extract many undesirable pollutants in a wetland environment as it has a high tolerance to contaminants.

And they're really cool-looking.