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 starting with Ca are pictured on this page.
Gladiolus index - Southern African Gladiolus A-B - 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 - Miscellaneous Gladiolus
Gladiolus caeruleus (syn. Gladiolus gracilis var. latifolia) is found on limestone outcrops and calcareous sands close to the coast in the Southwest Cape. The flowers are pale blue with dark speckles on the lower tepals. It blooms in winter. Photos by Bob Rutemoeller, Mary Sue Ittner and Bob Werra.
Gladiolus cardinalis This very beautiful flower was one of the parent's of modern day hybrids. It grows on wet cliffs and waterfalls in the southwestern Cape area of South Africa and blooms in summer and is pollinated by the mountain pride butterfly. The first photo from Sheila Burrow and the second was taken by Rod Saunders.
Gladiolus carinatus is found on sandstone slopes or deep coastal sands in many areas of the Cape. It flowers late winter to spring and can be blue to violet or yellow, rarely pink, often with yellow markings on the lower tepals. The first photo was taken September 2001 in the southwest Cape and the second shows the flower of a plant grown from seed and blooming March 2004. The first two photos were taken by Mary Sue Ittner and the second two by Bob Werra.
The first photo below is a habitat shot taken in the western Cape near Hopefield. The yellow form in the second photo is from a plant raised from seed by Rhoda McMaster. Both photographed by Cameron McMaster. The last three photos from Alan Horstmann show different forms.
Gladiolus carmineus flowers in the fall before the leaves appear. It is found on coastal sandstone cliffs and rocks and is deep pink to carmine with white makings on the lower tepals. It is naturalizing in Northern California where each year we have more flowers and where it blooms for a long time (different microclimates of our garden.) Some PBS members report that they get better results from this bulb in pots if watering is started in late summer (August in California). Others report that it blooms reliably in dry ground even if given no supplemental water. You may need to experiment to see what works best in your climate. The first two photos were taken by Bob Rutemoeller. The third photo below was taken by David Victor who writes: "This plant was given to me as Gladiolus uysiae, but is clearly not that species. It flowers in the UK during September, as soon as it comes into growth, the foliage appearing later. Flower stems and foliage are grey-green. Typically four or five flowers on a spike." Photo September, 2005. The fourth photo is from the summer hemisphere and was taken by Bill Dijk. The last photo is of a slightly lighter-colored form grown by Michael Mace.
Photos taken in habitat near Hermanus, South Africa by Cameron McMaster.
Gladiolus carneus (syn. G. blandus) has a wide distribution in the winter rainfall area of southern Africa and is found in a variety of habitats. This one seeds set very easily and also increases by cormlets. The first photo was taken by Doug Westfall. The second one was taken June 2003 in Northern California of plants grown from seed, photo by Mary Sue Ittner The last photo was taken by Jana Ulmer of plants grown from the same seed batch as the picture above. In 2004 both her population and Mary Sue's produced a lot of flowers that bloomed a very long time. Another form has been a reliable bloomer in our Northern California garden where it is planted in the ground and returns each year. Photos four and five by Bob Rutemoeller and by Kristina Van Wert from the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens bulb collection.
Photos taken in the wild, the first by Cameron McMaster in the Overberg and photos two and three by Andrew Harvie. The last two photos are close-ups taken by Alan Horstmann.
Gladiolus caryophyllaceus grows on sandstone flats and slopes in the winter rainfall area, blooms winter to spring and has large pink to mauve flowers that are speckled on the lower tepals and fragrant. This species has naturalized in Western Australia, but in my Northern California garden I have had no increase at all. Photos by Mary Sue Ittner, Bob Werra, Alan Horstmann and the last two habitat shots by Andrew Harvie.
Gladiolus index - Southern African Gladiolus A-B - 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 - Miscellaneous Gladiolus