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• Taxonomy
• Physical Description
• Growth
• Similar Species
• Bibliography
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Taxonomy

Physical Description

Family Iridaceae:

Herbs perennial (or shrubs or annuals), with rhizomes, bulbs, or corms. Leaves alternate, often 2-ranked, often oriented edgewise to aerial stem, usually sword-shaped to linear, parallel veined, base sheathing. Inflorescence sometimes a spike or reduced to a solitary flower, more often of monochasial, umbellate cymes, each enclosed in 2 opposed bracts (spathes) and termed a rhipidium, which may be solitary and terminal or numerous and variously arranged in racemes or panicles; bracts 1 to several. Flowers bisexual, showy, usually actinomorphic (often zygomorphic elsewhere) . Perianth segments 6, in 2 whorls, inner and outer ones equal or differing in size and/or color; tube filiform or trumpet-shaped. Stamens (2 or) 3; anthers extrorse. Ovary inferior (or superior), 3-loculed; ovules few to many; placentation axile. Style with filiform, slender, or petaloid branches. Fruit a loculicidal capsule. Seeds with or without aril and wings.

Between 70 and 80 genera and ca. 1800 species: nearly worldwide, especially S Africa, Asia, and Europe; three genera and 61 species (21 endemic, one introduced) in China.^[1]

Genus Gladiolus:

Herbs, perennial, from corms. Stems simple or branched. Leaves 1-9; blade lanceolate to linear, plane or margins and/or midribs variously raised and thickened (then H- or X-shaped in cross section), or evidently terete, midribs and margins much thickened, grooved; grooves 4, narrow, longitudinal. Inflorescences spicate, partly to fully secund or with flowers weakly distichous; bracts green, sometimes flushed grayish purple, unequal, outer usually exceeding inner, acute or inner forked or notched apically. Flowers somewhat fragrant, zygomorphic [actinomorphic]; tepals basally connate into tube, variously colored, usually with contrasting markings comprising nectar guide on outer tepals, usually unequal, dorsal tepal largest, arched to hooded over stamens, outer 3 tepals narrower; perianth tube obliquely funnel-shaped to cylindric; stamens usually unilateral; anthers usually parallel; style usually arching over stamens, dividing into 3 filiform branches, these distally expanded. Capsules usually slightly inflated, oblong to ellipsoid or globose [rarely nearly cylindric], softly cartilaginous. Seeds usually many, broadly winged; rarely few, wingless, globose or angular; seed coat light to dark brown. x = 15.

Species ca. 260: introduced; Africa, Madagascar, Eurasia.

Hybrid strains of Gladiolus are widely cultivated, and some wild species are grown outdoors in areas with mild winters. The common, large-flowered hybrids are the product of crossing between four or five species, followed by selection. Named variously G. gandavensis L. van Houtte, G. lemoinei Baker, and G. hortulanus L. H. Bailey, these plants are occasionally found in and near gardens and cemeteries and are easily recognized by their large, brightly colored flowers with the inner tepals 60-70 mm long and the outer tepals about 50 mm long. They reproduce mainly vegetatively and persist for some years where winters are mild; they show no evidence of spreading into native vegetation.^[2]

Growth

Culture: Space 15-18" apart.

Similar Species

Members of the genus Gladiolus:

There are approximately 1,821 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus. Here are just 100 of them: G. carinatus parviflorus · G. communis illyricus · G. dalenii andongensis · G. dalenii welwitschii · G. ecklonii rehmannii · G. ecklonii vinoso-maculatus · G. floribundus fasciatus · G. floribundus milleri · G. floribundus miniatus · G. floribundus rudis · G. inflatus intermedius · G. kotschyanus distichus · G. longicollis platypetalus · G. maculatus eburneus · G. maculatus hibernus · G. maculatus meridionalis · G. microcarpus italaensis · G. permeabilis wilsonii · G. saccatus steingroeveri · G. sericeovillosus calvatus · G. szovitsii pseudopersicus · G. vagnatus subtilis · G. brenchleyensis · G. candidus · G. colvillii · G. fragrans · G. gandavensis · G. hybridus · G. insignis · G. lemoinei · G. odoratus · G. pudibundus · G. ramosus · G. victorialis · G. 'About Face' · G. 'Acapulco' · G. 'Adagio' · G. 'Advance' · G. 'Advantage' · G. 'Alba' · G. 'Albatross' · G. 'Alex Hall' · G. 'Alexander S' · G. 'Alexandra the Great' · G. 'Alexandra' · G. 'Ali Baba' · G. 'Alice' · G. 'Aline' · G. 'Allosius' · G. 'Aloha' · G. 'Amanda Mahy' · G. 'Amanda P' · G. 'Ambiance' · G. 'Amsterdam' · G. 'Anchorage' · G. 'Andes' · G. 'Andorra' · G. 'Andre Viette' · G. 'Angel of Mine' · G. 'Angel' · G. 'Anglia' · G. 'Anitra' · G. 'Anna Leorah' · G. 'Anthony' · G. 'Antica' · G. 'Antique Lace' · G. 'Antique Rose' · G. 'Anyu S' · G. 'Applause' · G. 'Apricot Perfection' · G. 'Apricot Queen' · G. 'Arabella' · G. 'Arabian Night' · G. 'Arctic Day' · G. 'Ashram' · G. 'Athelney Aztec' · G. 'Athelney Sunburst' · G. 'Atom' · G. 'Aubrey Lane' · G. 'August Days' · G. 'Aureatus' · G. 'Avalanche' · G. 'Baby Girl' · G. 'Baltica' · G. 'Bandolero' · G. 'Bangledesh' · G. 'Barn Owl' · G. 'Baton' · G. 'Beau Jour' · G. 'Beau Rivage' · G. 'Beaumonde' · G. 'Beautiful Angel' · G. 'Beauty Bride' · G. 'Beauty of Holland' · G. 'Beijing' · G. 'Belair' · G. 'Bell Boy' · G. 'Bell Tower' · G. 'Bella Donna' · G. 'Ben Trovato'

Bibliography

• Goldblatt, P. and J. C. Manning. 1998. Gladiolus in Southern Africa. Cape Town.
• Goldblatt, P. 1996. Gladiolus in Tropical Africa. Portland.
• Zhao Yu-tang. 1985. Iridaceae. In: Pei Chien & Ting Chih-tsun, eds., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 16(1): 120--198.

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Notes

Contributors:

• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-2006. Systema Naturae 2000. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Accessed April 19, 2007.

Identifiers:

• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 958975

Footnotes:

1. Yu-tang Zhao, Henry J. Noltie & Brian F. Mathew "Iridaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 24 Page 297. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org.
2. Peter Goldblatt "Gladiolus". in Flora of North America Vol. 26 Page 349, 407, 408. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org.