There are about 163 species of Gladiolus (with new ones being discovered) in the area south of the Tropic of Capricorn and including Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, and Mozambique. Some are found in winter rainfall areas and some in summer rainfall areas. For more information see Goldblatt and Manning, 1998. Southern African species from I-Me are pictured on this page.
Gladiolus index - Southern African Gladiolus A-B - Southern African Gladiolus Ca - Southern African Gladiolus Ce-E - Southern African Gladiolus F-H - Southern African Gladiolus Mi-Pa - Southern African Gladiolus Pe-R - Southern African Gladiolus S-T - Southern African Gladiolus U-Z - Gladiolus Hybrids - Miscellaneous Gladiolus
Gladiolus inandensis, a species that is from 20 to 45 cm., grows in small clumps. It is mostly found on sandstone soils in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape, but it also has been recorded in Lesotho. Plants are found on rocky grassland and flower early in the summer rainfall region starting in August, but mostly in October to November. This species has small white to cream flowers flushed with purple on the outside of the tepals. The dorsal tepal is hooded over the stamens. This species is unusual in that the flowers are usually produced before the new leaves on short stems with the dry dead previous foliage leaves attached to their base. This species is very similar to Gladiolus wilsonii but that species produces a stem after the new leaves are produced. Photos taken late in the season (January 2010) for this species near Maclear in the Eastern Cape by Bob Rutemoeller and Mary Sue Ittner.
Gladiolus inflatus grows in open habitats on sandstone, often in rocky outcrops or in stony ground among shrubs and restios in the mountains of the Western Cape. It has pink to mauve, purple or violet short tubed flowers. The lower tepals have dark spear or spade shaped purple to red marks in the middle third. The mark on the lower median tepal is usually yellow in the center. This species blooms in spring. Photo taken by Rod Saunders.
Gladiolus inflexus is endemic to the southwestern Cape. It has purple flowers with a creamy throat speckled to blotched purple on the lower tepals. Photo by Alan Horstmann.
Gladiolus insolens grows in a few wet sites along streams and seeps in rocky areas on the higher slopes of the Piketberg in the western Cape. It has a spike of one to three bright scarlet flowers and five to seven narrow grey green leaves. Photo by Rachel Saunders.
Gladiolus involutus is found on clay slopes in renosterveld and grassland in areas with summer and winter rainfall. Flowering from winter into spring, it has white flowers with yellow-green markings on the lower tepals. Photo by Bob Werra.
Gladiolus kamiesbergensis grows in rocky sites in shrubby fynbos in the Kamiesberg of central Namaqualand. From 45-90 cm. tall, this species has small, pale, lilac flowers with minute purple dots within and on the reverse of the tepals. The lower lateral tepals are yellow on the lower half of the limbs. This species flowers in spring and the flowers are sweetly scented and probably pollinated by long-tongued bees. Photos taken by Andrew Harvie.
Gladiolus liliaceus grows on clay slopes over a wide area and blooms winter to spring. Flowers are brown to russet or beige and turn mauve in the evenings when it is supposed to be fragrant. The ones grown by Mary Sue Ittner have not been very fragrant and the color change is subtle. Photo 1 was taken by Mary Sue Ittner. Photos 2-3 from Bob Rutemoeller attempt to show the change in color. Photo 2 was taken during the day and photo 3 in the early evening. Andrew Harvie's photos (4-5) show the orangey red colour of the day and the more purple colour of the night. To ensure correct colour balance both photos were taken with a flash and same exposure. He notes that he wishes he could also share the fragrance.
The forms pictured below in the first four photos were all found at Drayton and were blooming August-September 2003. Photos by Bob Rutemoeller including a single yellow one. The last photo is of a red flowered one photographed by Cameron McMaster near Bredasdorp in the Overberg
Gladiolus longicollis is a species found in a wide area of southern Africa, including the southern Cape, the eastern Cape, the Free State and the Northern Province. It has pale yellow to white long tubed flowers that are either uniformly colored or mottled with brown. Flowers are night blooming and sweetly scented of carnation and cloves. Photos from Cameron McMaster and Mary Sue Ittner taken in the Eastern Cape. The last three were taken at Naude's Nek.
Gladiolus maculatus 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 taken by Cameron McMaster near Napier and Bredasdorp in the Overberg. The fourth and fifth pictures are of garden flowers taken by Mary Sue Ittner December 2007 and January 2009. The sixth picture was taken by Alan Horstmann.
Gladiolus magnificus is a southern tropical African species found from central Angola through southern Zambia to western Zimbabwe. In also found in the northern edges of Namibia and Botswanna. In the past this species has been included in Antholyza under three species names as well as being included in Chasmanthe and Oenostachys. It has bright red flowers with a long perianth tube and reduced lower tepals with yellow markings. Tepals are very unequal with the dorsal the largest, hooded and horizontal. The laterals are broadly lanceolate and directed forward. It flowers in January and February.
Gladiolus marlothii is endemic to the Roggeveld Escarpment. It grows on open slopes or among rock outcrops, always in heavy clay and usually in rocky situations at an elevation of 1800 m. Flowers are pale blue-lilac with a transverse yellow band about the base of the limb and are densely speckled with dark purple at the edges of the yellow band. Photograph taken by Rod Saunders.
Gladiolus martleyi syn. Gladiolus pillansii is a delicate pink flower with nice markings on the lower tepals. It blooms in the fall on a flowering stalk without leaves. This one was grown from IBSA seed from Betty's Bay. It can be found on sandy and rock flats in various areas in the Cape. Photo by Bob Rutemoeller.
Gladiolus meliusculus , syn. Gladiolus alatus var. meliusculus is found on low hills and flats on the western Cape coastal plain where is grows in sandy sites formed from decomposed granite or sandstone that are waterlogged during the period of growth. Flowers are salmon, brick-red or orange with yellow markings on the lower tepals. Gladiolus meliusculus differs from Gladiolus alatus by having shorter stamens and the yellow on the lower tepals is less pronounced and edged by a band or red-purple and the upped halves are pink to orange. The first three photos were taken by Mary Sue Ittner and Bob Rutemoeller September 2006 near Darling. The other two were taken near Brackenfell on Rod and Rachel Saunders' property where they are growing this species.
Gladiolus meridionalis photographed by Cameron McMaster on the farm Fairfield in the Napier district where it occurs on sandstone slopes. This species is found in the Southern Cape from the Overberg to Port Elizabeth and flowers from June to August. An article here gives more information on the species.
Gladiolus index - Southern African Gladiolus A-B - Southern African Gladiolus Ca - Southern African Gladiolus Ce-E - Southern African Gladiolus F-H - Southern African Gladiolus Mi-Pa - Southern African Gladiolus Pe-R - Southern African Gladiolus S-T - Southern African Gladiolus U-Z - Gladiolus Hybrids - Miscellaneous Gladiolus