Gladiolus flowering

Mary Sue Ittner msittner@mcn.org
Tue, 07 Aug 2012 10:38:10 PDT
Rod and Rachel Saunders are finding a lot of variation in species as 
they search for Gladiolus in the wild for their book. Some 
populations don't quite fit the descriptions in some of the Goldblatt 
-Manning books. There is great diversity in the wild which is why we 
have added multiple photos of many of the species to the wiki to 
illustrate this. I remember it being a bit hopeless to distinguish 
between Gladiolus venustus and G. scullyi. Some people were 
identifying plants by virtue of where they were growing, not how they looked.

When I first looked at Terry's photos it reminded me of Gladiolus 
quadrangularis even though the plants I grew from Silverhill Seed 
didn't fit the description of that species.

The key for that species in the Encyclopedia is:
Tepals lanceolate, the upper laterals more than twice as long as 
wide;  flowers with the lower tepals uniformly red or orange toward the base.
It can bloom between August and October. But the spike usually has 
more flowers than Terry's plants, 4 to 10.  Leaves linear, the midrib 
strongly raised, x shaped in cross section, 2.4-4mm wide.  Corm 
globose with tunics of firm, wiry fibers.

Another to consider is Gladiolus huttonii or one of those hybrids of 
it. It blooms at the right time. Leaves are the same description as 
G. quadrangularis, but 2-3 mm. wide. Corm is ovoid with tunics of 
coarse fibers. Flowers are in a 3 to 8 flowered spike, red to orange 
with the lower tepals sometimes yellow. The flowers are large, with 
the dorsal tepal 25-60 cm.

Terry could always call this Gladiolus sp., Homoglossum section.

Mary Sue




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