Gladiolus species on this page are not from Southern Africa. Most are Eurasian with an additional African species from Kenya and Tanzania.
Gladiolus index -- Southern African Gladiolus A-B -- Southern African Gladiolus Ca -- Southern African Gladiolus Ce-E -- Southern African Gladiolus F-H -- Southern African Gladiolus I-Me -- Southern African Gladiolus Mi-Pa -- Southern African Gladiolus Pe-Sc -- Southern African Gladiolus Se-T -- Southern African Gladiolus U-Z -- Gladiolus Hybrids
Gladiolus antakiensis Plant grown from seed purchased from Jim and Jenny Archibald. The species is Turkish. Photo by Jane McGary
Gladiolus communis subsp. byzantinus is native to southern Spain, Sicily, and northern Africa. It is deep purple-red with narrow, paler marks outlined in dark purple on the lower lobes.
Gladiolus illyricus is native to south and west Europe and the Mediterranean region, growing on heaths, in scrub and open woods. It flowers April to August and is similar to G. communis with flowers facing in two directions but is usually shorter with 3 to 10 flowers on a rarely branched stem. Flowers are magenta purple with white markings on the lower 3 lobes. These photos taken by Mary Sue Ittner were of plants grown from seed labeled this and hopefully are correctly identified. The second picture is of the same plant and shows how different it looked at a later stage of flowering.
Gladiolus imbricatus is native to southeastern Europe and Turkey. It grows in wet meadows and marshes and flowers from May to July. It has a dense spike of 4 to 12 pale carmine to deep purple flowers, streaked purple and white. Its lowest leaf is round or blunt, not sharp which is another distinguishing characteristic. These plants were blooming at Kew Gardens in May 2004. Photo by Bob Rutemoeller. I'm not certain of the identification, but they seem to correspond with the description.
Gladiolus italicus has a broad distribution from southern Europe to parts of Asia growing on rocky hillsides, grassy areas, open forests and in fields. It flowers from March to July. It is distinguished from other European Gladiolus by having anthers that are longer than the filaments. Flowers are loosely arranged and facing various directions, pale pink as well as purple-pink to magenta with a pale blotch outlined in purple on the lower lobes. There are 5 to 15 flowers on the spike. The first photo taken by Mary Sue Ittner illustrates a flower of a plant grown from seed labeled G. italicus and the second is a close-up taken in habitat by Angelo Porcelli.
This photo shows a plant grown from seed obtained from Monocot Nursery under the name Gladiolus dubius, which I cannot verify. The Kew monocot list states it is an invalid name for Gladiolus italicus. It has relatively large flowers for a Eurasian species. Photo by Jane McGary
Gladiolus palustris white form. This species is native to central and northwestern Europe, the most northerly range in the genus, and is suitable for ordinary to moist border conditions. The normal flower color is rosy violet. The pictured white form was grown from seed sent by Ole Olsen of Norway, who cultivates the parent plants as a "blue" form. Photo by Jane McGary. This species faces only one direction and does not have more than 6 flowers on a spike.
Gladiolus watsonioides is found on the mountains of Kenya and northern Tanzania, growing from 2600 m to 3900 m. It is not quite a true alpine, but not far off. There is a frost almost every night and the plant copes with this well at all stages of its growth. With the almost constant daylength and general conditions through the year the plant can remain active without going dormant. This evergreen habit is maintained in cultivation & the plants remain green throughout the year if kept moist, but they can go dormant if they dry out. I have stocks from both mountains (Kilimanjaro and Mt. Kenya) and they grow equally well in a gritty, humus-rich compost in deep pots in a frost-free greenhouse, but there is no doubt that the Mt Kenya version is the one to grow.
Description and photo by John Grimshaw.
Gladiolus index -- Southern African Gladiolus A-B -- Southern African Gladiolus Ca -- Southern African Gladiolus Ce-E -- Southern African Gladiolus F-H -- Southern African Gladiolus I-Me -- Southern African Gladiolus Mi-Pa -- Southern African Gladiolus Pe-Sc -- Southern African Gladiolus Se-T -- Southern African Gladiolus U-Z -- Gladiolus Hybrids
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