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 Mi-Pa 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 I-Me - Southern African gladiolus Pe-Sc - Southern African gladiolus Se-T - Southern African gladiolus U-Z - Gladiolus Hybrids - Miscellaneous gladiolus
Gladiolus microcarpus is endemic to the Drakensberg in KwaZulu-Natal, the Free State, South Africa and Lesotho. Plants grow on rocks and steep cliffs where their stems hang downward from vertical rock faces and their stems are anchored in crevices. During the growing season the habitat is moist. Flowers are bright pink with a broad white longitudinal zone in the lower two thirds of the lower three tepals and a narrow reddish purple streak in the midline. Photos taken by Cameron McMaster at Sentinel Peak, February 2008.
Gladiolus miniatus is found on coastal limestone outcrops from Hermanus to Agulhas. Spring blooming flowers are salmon with red along the midline. The first photo was taken by Dirk Wallace and the second by Cameron McMaster at Arniston. The last two photos were taken by Mary Sue Ittner in May 2005 when they were blooming for the first time from seed in Northern California with California bulb companions Brodiaea jolonensis, Allium unifolium and Triteleia hyacinthina in bloom in the same raised bed.
Gladiolus monticola is found on rocky sandstone slopes in the southwestern Cape. There are populations on Table Mountain. It has pink to apricot flowers with darker pink markings on the lower tepals and blooms summer into fall before the single leaf is produced. The first two photos by Bob Rutemoeller. This first photo shows it as the only bulb blooming in one of our raised beds that only has bulbs from winter rainfall areas, blooming in July 2003 in the northern hemisphere. The leaf in the picture is of another Gladiolus that bloomed a month earlier. In the second photo we put cardboard behind the flowers to get the close-up that shows the details better. The last photo was taken years later by Mary Sue Ittner.
Gladiolus mortonius (formerly Gladiolus ochroleucus var. macowanii). This is a gorgeous little Gladiolus that grows successfully in a pot, producing flower stems around 8-9 inches tall, with comparatively large flowers that face slightly downwards. The photo (face) is taken upwards into the flower to show detail. This has had a succession of flowers since late February (in Australia) and is now sending up another spike in mid April just as the last of the previous flowers have faded. The first three photos by Paul Tyerman and the fourth taken in the Eastern Cape by Cameron McMaster February 2008.
Gladiolus ochroleucus grows in grasslands and light bush or woodland in the Eastern Cape. Flowers are either shades of pink, sometimes light purple or reddish, or whitish or yellow flushed brownish on the reverse. The lower tepals are white in the lower half sometimes with dark red-purple median streaks. Photos by Cameron McMaster taken January 2008 in the Eastern Cape.
Gladiolus oppositiflorus is found in the southern part of the summer rainfall area where it grows in open grasslands and often in rocky sites where there is some protection from predators. Flowers are salmon to pale pink or mauve, with the lower three tepals paler in the midline and having a reddish to purple median streak. This species blooms summer into fall. The first two photos by Mary Sue Ittner of a plant growing in the ground in Northern California and blooming late August-September 2004. The third photo was taken by Cameron McMaster in the Eastern Cape February 2008.
A shorter-stemmed form with salmon colored flowers was described at Gladiolus salmoneus and later considered to be a subspecies of G. oppositiflorus. Although this subspecies is still recognized by Kew, Goldblatt and Manning in Gladiolus of Southern Africa did not think the differences warranted subspecies treatment. Photos of this form taken in the Eastern Cape January 2008 by Cameron McMaster.
Gladiolus orchidiflorus is found on clay and sandstone soils in the Cape and flowers in the spring. It has greenish to purple flowers with dark purple markings and is very fragrant. The first photo was taken by Kristina Van Wert in the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens bulb collection and the last two are habitat shots taken in Namaqualand by Bob Rutemoeller and Mary Sue Ittner September 2006..
Gladiolus papilio is called the Butterfly Gladiolus, and grows in marshy ground, up to 2400m, from the Eastern Cape to Limpopo Province. Claimed to be a hardy garden plant, grown in the UK since 1866. The first two photos were taken by Roy Herold in KwaZulu-Natal Province, near Kamberg in the foothills of the Drakensberg, in early December 2006. The third was taken by Rod Saunders. The last two taken in the Eastern Cape by Cameron McMaster.
Photo from John Grimshaw of a form he labels in the "purpureoauratus" group.
Gladiolus pappei grows in marshes on sandstone slopes in the southwestern Cape. It blooms in spring. This one was grown from Silverhill seeds sown in September 2001 and first blooming in June 2003. Photos by Bob Rutemoeller and Mary Sue Ittner.
Gladiolus patersoniae is widespread in the southern African winter rainfall areas. It occurs in exposed rocky habitats in the interior ranges of the Cape Floral region, but also near the coast at Cape Infanta and on stony alluvial flats near Worcester. It grows on soils derived from sandstone. The bell like short tubed and sweetly scented (similar to apple and carnation) pale to deep blue, slate, grey or cream flowers are pollinated by long tongued bees. The lower three tepals have a transverse yellow band usually outlined in dark blue or purple. Flowering occurs in late winter to spring, earlier at lower elevations. Photos by Cameron McMaster.
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 Pe-Sc - Southern African gladiolus Se-T - Southern African gladiolus U-Z - Gladiolus Hybrids - Miscellaneous gladiolus