Patterned Gladiolus A-Z

Most Gladiolus sport a few lines and spots on their flowers, but there are some so heavily patterned that the base color becomes obscured.


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Gladiolus ceresianus L.Bolus grows on stony slopes and flats in clay soil from southern Namaqualand to the western Karoo and in the Roggeveld and Bokkeveld Plateau. It is a small plant, up to 10 cm tall with linear leaves with four longitudinal grooves and one to four flowers in a inclined spike that are brown to purple with dark veining. Flowers are pleasantly scented. This species flowers from August to October in the wild. Flowers are similar to Gladiolus uysiae, but that species has flat leaves. It is also very similar to Gladiolus virescens, but has dark, hard scales around the corms. Photo 1 from Cameron McMaster taken on the Matjiesfontein Sutherland road in the Roggeveld, photo 2 from Alan Horstmann, and photo 3 from Rod Saunders. The last two photos from the book Plants of the Klein Karoo courtesy of Jan and Anne Lise Schutte-Vlok.

Gladiolus ceresianus, Roggeveld, Cameron McMasterGladiolus ceresianus, Alan HorstmannGladiolus ceresianus, Rod SaundersGladiolus ceresianus, Jan and Anne Lise Schutte-VlokGladiolus ceresianus, Jan and Anne Lise Schutte-Vlok

Gladiolus dalenii Van Geel is a widespread and common species found not only in Southern Africa, but also in other parts of tropical Africa. It has been known by a number of names over the years; there have been 27 synonyms for the tropical Africa and Madagascar forms and 14 more for the southern African forms. The main synonyms for the southern Africa collections have been Gladiolus natalensis and Gladiolus psittacinus. This species blooms at different times of the year depending on the location, but there are probably flowers every month of the year somewhere in its native habitats. Flowers are either red to orange with yellow markings on the lower half of the three lower tepals or yellow to greenish with red to brown streaks on the upper tepals. Although it favors moist habitats and is often found in grassland, it can also be found in dry habitats with only a short wet season. The ones I grew in Northern California lived for a number of years in the garden, dormant during our wet winters, appearing late spring and surviving through the dry summer and blooming in the fall. The flowering stalks were very tall with a number of flowers. Photos 1-2 of those plants were taken by Mary Sue Ittner. Photo 3 by Cameron McMaster shows plants in cultivation. Photos 4-5 by Mary Hunter and Mary Sue Ittner show the first bloom from seed of a yellow form of ssp. dalenii, once known as Gladiolus primulinus blooming in late summer in Northern California. The last photo by David Pilling shows seed.

Gladiolus dalenii, Mary Sue IttnerGladiolus dalenii, Mary Sue IttnerGladiolus dalenii, Cameron McMasterGladiolus dalenii, Mary HunterGladiolus dalenii, Mary Sue IttnerGladiolus dalenii seed, David Pilling

The first photo below from Cameron McMaster shows flowering plants in habitat in the Eastern Cape. The second is another habitat shot taken near Balloch in the Eastern Cape, January 2010 by Bob Rutemoeller. Photo Nr. 3 from Rachel Saunders shows an unusual color form and was taken in northern KwaZulu-Natal in January 2015. The last photo shows the beautiful detail on likely the same color form, as the seeds were obtained from Silverhill, flowering the second year from seed for Martin Bohnet.

Gladiolus dalenii, Cameron McMasterGladiolus dalenii, Balloch, Bob RutemoellerGladiolus dalenii, KwaZulu-Natal, Rachel SaundersGladiolus dalenii, Martin Bohnet


Gladiolus ecklonii Lehmann (syn. G. marmoratus, G. inclusus) is widespread in the summer rainfall area where it is found in well watered low grassland. It has flowers that are minutely spotted or dotted pink, red or purple on a white background. The lower tepals are yellow to cream. The flowers may be so evenly covered with uniformly pink or dark red spots that they look that color. From a distance the flowers on my plants looks almost brown. The attractive leaves are bright green in a fan with thickened margins. The species is named after C. F. Ecklon, the plant collector who first sent seeds of it to the Hamburg Botanic Garden. The first two photos are of plants blooming September 2004 in California by Mary Sue Ittner.

Gladiolus ecklonii, Mary Sue IttnerGladiolus ecklonii, Mary Sue Ittner

The first four photos were taken by Cameron McMaster in the Eastern Cape and the last was taken by Rod Saunders.

Gladiolus ecklonii, Cameron McMasterGladiolus ecklonii, Sentinel Peak, Cameron McMasterGladiolus ecklonii, Maclear, Cameron McMasterGladiolus ecklonii, Cameron McMasterGladiolus ecklonii, Rod Saunders


Gladiolus fourcadei (L.Bolus) Goldblatt & M.P.de Vos, syn. Homoglossum fourcadei (L.Bolus) N.E.Br, syn. Antholyza fourcadei L.Bolus, grows in a variety of soils in the Uniondale district of the Southern Cape. It has small, greenish yellow flowers with reddish veins and spots. This species is endangered, and reportedly now grows in only a single location threatened by overgrazing. The first photo was taken by Rod Saunders and the next three by Mary Sue Ittner.

Gladiolus fourcadei, Rod SaundersGladiolus fourcadei, Mary Sue IttnerGladiolus fourcadei, Mary Sue IttnerGladiolus fourcadei, Mary Sue Ittner


Gladiolus guthriei F.Bolus is a winter-growing species that occurs on rocky sandstone outcrops in the Western Cape. It incorporates plants formerly known as Gladiolus odoratus L.Bolus. It blooms in fall to early winter; April to June in its native range. Plants that will bloom send up a flowering stalk with very short leaf stubs on it. Plants not blooming in that year produce a long leathery leaf. The flowers generally have a pale yellow or straw base color, liberally decorated with mauve or dark magenta streaks and freckles. The result looks fairly dull from a distance, but the flowers reward close examination. They have a sweet scent. First four photos taken in Napier and Villiersdorp in the Overberg by Cameron McMaster. The fourth and fifth photos are of the Gladiolus odoratus form, blooming in December in California by Michael Mace.

Gladiolus guthriei,Napier, Cameron McMasterGladiolus guthriei, Napier, Cameron McMasterGladiolus guthriei, Villiersdorp, Cameron McMasterGladiolus guthriei, Villiersdorp, Cameron McMasterGladiolus guthriei (formerly G. odoratus), Michael MaceGladiolus guthriei (odoratus) closeup, Michael Mace


Gladiolus hyalinus Jacq. is a wide spread species in the winter-rainfall region where it is found from Namaqualand to the southwestern Cape and in a couple of places in the southern Cape and the Eastern Cape. In the Cape Flora region it is found in transitional fynbos and in Namaqualand on granite derived sand or clay. It flowers from winter into spring depending on the elevation. Flowers are light to reddish brown on a pale cream background. There are dark spots and streaks on the throat. The first five photos taken by Mary Sue Ittner who grew her plants from seed. Photos 4-5 were taken in a later year of flowers that look very different from the flowers of the one that bloomed in the past. The last photo was taken by Andrew Harvie on the R27, near Nieuwoudtville.

Gladiolus hyalinus, Mary Sue IttnerGladiolus hyalinus, Mary Sue IttnerGladiolus hyalinus, Mary Sue IttnerGladiolus hyalinus, Mary Sue IttnerGladiolus hyalinus, Mary Sue IttnerGladiolus hyalinus, Nieuwoudtville, Andrew Harvie


Gladiolus inflexus Goldblatt & J.C.Manning is endemic to only a few places in the Southwestern Cape where it grows in sandstone derived gravel. Growing from 20 to 35 cm, it has 1 to 3 purple flowers formed on a wiry bent stem. The sweetly scented flowers have a strongly arched dorsal tepal and a large lower median tepal that is greater than the lower laterals. The bases of the tepals and the throat are cream with the lower tepals speckled to blotched purple. Flowering time is mid to late July, sometimes into August. The first photo was taken by Rachel Saunders. The next three were taken by Alan Horstmann.

Gladiolus inflexus, Rachel SaundersGladiolus inflexus, Alan HorstmannGladiolus inflexus, Alan HorstmannGladiolus inflexus, Alan Horstmann

The next three photos from iNaturalist were taken by Douglas Euston-Brown in July near Worcester and shared under a CC BY-SA license.

Gladiolus inflexus, Douglas Euston-Brown, iNaturalist, CC BY-SAGladiolus inflexus, Douglas Euston-Brown, iNaturalist, CC BY-SAGladiolus inflexus, Douglas Euston-Brown, iNaturalist, CC BY-SA


Gladiolus maculatus Sweet extends across the southern coast and immediate interior of the winter rainfall area to the Eastern Cape where it is often found growing in heavy soils in renosterveld. Flowers are dull yellow to lilac and speckled with brown or purplish spots. They are long-tubed and fragrant during the day and the evening. The first three pictures were taken by Cameron McMaster near Napier and Bredasdorp in the Overberg.

Gladiolus maculatus, Cameron McMasterGladiolus maculatus, Napier, Cameron McMasterGladiolus maculatus, Bredasdrop, Cameron McMaster

The first two pictures below are of garden flowers taken by Mary Sue Ittner December 2007 and January 2009. The next two were taken by Alan Horstmann and the last by Dirk Wallace.

Gladiolus maculatus, Mary Sue IttnerGladiolus maculatus, Mary Sue IttnerGladiolus maculatus, Alan HorstmannGladiolus maculatus, Alan HorstmannGladiolus maculatus, Dirk Wallace


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