Gladiolus italicus (Cornfield Gladiolus)

Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Click on the language to view common names.

Common Names in English:

Cornfield Gladiolus, Common Sword-Lily, Field Gladiolus, Italian Gladiolus

Common Names in German:

Saat-Siegwurz

Description

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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]

Physical Description

Species Gladiolus italicus

Plants 50-100 cm. Corms tunicate , ca. 20 mm diam.; tunic fibrous . Stems usually simple . Leaves 3-5, ± reaching base of spike; blade plane , lanceolate, sometimes narrowly so, 8-22 mm wide. Spikes 6-16-flowered; spathes unequal, outer 30-40(-50) mm, inner 1/2-2/3 outer. Flowers unscented, weakly distichous; perianth tube obliquely funnel-shaped, 10-12 mm; tepals pink to light purple with narrow median white streak on outer 3 tepals, unequal, dorsal tepal 45-50 × ca. 16 mm, inner lateral tepals ca. 30 × 8 mm, outer 3 tepals connate for ca. 5 mm, outer lateral tepals ca. 25 mm, outer median tepal ca. 20 mm; filaments ca. 12 mm; anthers ca. 15 mm; style branching opposite level of anther apices; branches ca. 2.5 mm. Capsules globose , 10-12 mm. Seeds globose or lightly angled , 2-3 mm diam. [source]

Gladiolus italicus is a weed of cultivation, not known certainly as a truly wild plant. Occasionally, small-flowered plants with aborted anthers occur in some populations, but such gynodioecious individuals have not been recorded in North America. [source]

Habit: Forb/herb

Flowers: Bloom Period: April, May. • Flower Color: magenta

Size/Age/Growth

Size: 18-24" tall.

Habitat

Roadsides, crop fields ; 500 m ; introduced [3].

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 4,701 meters (0 to 15,423 feet).[4]

Biology

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Reproduction

Duration: Perennial

Growth

Culture: Space 3-6" apart.

Soil: Minimum pH: 6.1 • Maximum pH: 7.5

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full Sun .

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b, 10a, 10b. (map)

Taxonomy

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Domain: Eukaryota () - Whittaker & Margulis,1978 - eukaryotes
- Kingdom: Plantae () - Haeckel, 1866 - Plants
  - Subkingdom: Viridaeplantae () - Cavalier-Smith, 1981
    - Phylum: Tracheophyta () - Sinnott, 1935 ex Cavalier-Smith, 1998 - Vascular Plants
      - Subphylum: Euphyllophytina ()
        Infraphylum: Radiatopses () - Kenrick & Crane, 1997
        Class: Spermatopsida () - Brongniart, 1843
        Subclass: Liliidae () - Takhtajan, 1967
        Superorder: Lilianae () - Takhtajan, 1967
        Order: Asparagales () - Bromhead, 1838
        Family: Iridaceae () - A.L. de Jussieu, 1789 - Iris Family
        Subfamily: Crocoideae ()
        Tribe: Ixieae ()
        Genus: Gladiolus () - C. Linnaeus, 1753 - Corn-flag [Latin gladiolus, little sword, alluding to the leaf shape]
        Subgenus: nom ()
        Specific epithet: italicus - Mill.
        Botanical name: - Gladiolus italicus Mill.

Synonyms

Gentiana wrightii Gray • Gentianella amarella wrightii (Gray) J. Gillett • Gladiolus segetum Ker Gawler

Notes

Publishing author : Mill . Publication : Gard. Dict., ed. 8. n. 2 1768 [16 Apr 1768]

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Gladiolus

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 153 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus. Here are just 100 of them:

More Info

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Notes

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Contributors

Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 10, 2012.
"Gladiolus italicus". in Flora of North America Vol. 26 Page 408, 409. Published by Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org.
Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed February 28, 2008. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 8 providers.
Ruggiero M., Gordon D., Bailly N., Kirk P., Nicolson D. (2011). The Catalogue of Life Taxonomic Classification, Edition 2, Part A. In: Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2011 Annual Checklist (Bisby F.A., Roskov Y.R., Orrell T.M., Nicolson D., Paglinawan L.E., Bailly N., Kirk P.M., Bourgoin T., Baillargeon G., Ouvrard D., eds). DVD; Species 2000: Reading, UK.
The International Plant Names Index. Accessed Dec 27, 2011.
USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network - (GRIN) [Online Database]. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. URL (April 28, 2008)
USDA, NRCS. 2005. The PLANTS Database, Version 3.5 (http://plants.usda.gov). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.
World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. Release date: November 27, 2009

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal February 28, 2008:

Berkeley Natural History Museums: University and Jepson Herbaria DiGIR provider
Biologiezentrum der Oberoesterreichischen Landesmuseen: Biologiezentrum Linz
European Environment Agency: EUNIS
GBIF-Spain: Dirección General de Investigación, Desarrollo Tecnológico e Innovación de la Junta de Extremadura(DGIDTI): HSS
GBIF-Spain: Herbario Universidad de Málaga: MGC-Cormófitos
GBIF-Spain: Hortus Botanicus Sollerensis Herbarium (FBonafè)
GBIF-Spain: Institut Botanic de Barcelona, BC
GBIF-Spain: Jardín Botánico de Córdoba: Herbarium COA
GBIF-Spain: Real Jardin Botanico (Madrid), Vascular Plant Herbarium (MA)
GBIF-Spain: Univ. Herbarium SALAMANCA: SALA
GBIF-Spain: Universidad de Extremadura, UNEX
GBIF-Sweden: Lund Botanical Museum (LD)
Israel Nature and Parks Authority
SysTax
SysTax: Herbarium Universitat Ulm
SysTax: Justus-Liebig-Universitat Giessen
UK National Biodiversity Network: Botanical Society of the British Isles - Vascular Plants Database
USDA PLANTS: USDA PLANTS Database

Identifiers

Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2667265
Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: Kew-328527
Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 4490920
Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:437544-1
GRIN Nomen Number: 403097
Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 502782
International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 437543-1
Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: PMIRI07070
U.S.D.A. Plant Symbol: GLSE
Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 40473

Footnotes

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. [back]
Peter Goldblatt "Gladiolus". in Flora of North America Vol. 26 Page 349, 407, 408. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
"Gladiolus italicus". in Flora of North America Vol. 26 Page 408, 409. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
Mean = 253.630 meters (832.119 feet), Standard Deviation = 466.350 based on 67,484 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]

Gladiolus italicus

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Description

Family Iridaceae

Genus Gladiolus

Physical Description

Species Gladiolus italicus

Size/Age/Growth

Habitat

Biology

Reproduction

Growth

Taxonomy

Synonyms

Notes

Similar Species

Members of the genus Gladiolus

More Info

Further Reading

Notes

Contributors

Data Sources

Identifiers

Footnotes