Dear All: The confusion perhaps comes from two quite similar names, Gladiolus watsonioides, from Kenya and N. Tanzania 24-36 inches, sometimes with 2 stem leaves, normally 4 stiff and erect leaves, flowers bright scarlet with a yellow throat with a tube 1 1/2 inches long. Flowers in early spring, August to October in the wild. Var. minor is less than half this size. G. watsonius, from South Africa, Cape Peninsula to Western Cape. Flowers bright red to 3 inches long and almost overlapping on the stem, leaves narrow and stiff, flowers winter to early spring, June to September in the wild, very free flowering. Cheers, John E. Bryan