Iridaceae
Gladiolus

Gladiolus dalenii Van Geel

First published in Sert. Bot. 2(1): 18 (1829)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Tropical & S. Africa, Madagascar, SW. Arabian Peninsula. It is a tuberous geophyte and grows primarily in the seasonally dry tropical biome.

Descriptions

Iridaceae, P. Goldblatt. Flora Zambesiaca 12:4. 1993

Morphology General Habit
Plants (50)70–120(150) cm high.
Vegetative Multiplication Corms
Corms (15)20–30 mm in diameter; tunics reddish-brown, of brittle or coriaceous to membranous layers, the outer becoming irregularly broken, sometimes fibrous; numerous tiny cormlets usually present around the base.
Morphology Leaves
Foliage leaves either synanthus and produced simultaneously with the flowers on the flowering shoot (subsp. dalenii) or hysteranthus and produced after flowering on separate shoots from the same corm (subsp. andongensis); synanthus foliage leaves 4–6(7), at least the lower 2 basal or nearly so, long-laminate and about half as long as the spike, (5)10–20(30) mm wide, narrowly lanceolate to nearly linear, firm textured with moderately raised thickened midribs and margins, the upper 1–2 leaves (of plants with synanthous leaves) cauline and sheathing for at least half their length, sometimes entirely sheathing, often imbricate; hysteranthus foliage leaves usually only 2 and resembling basal synanthus foliage leaves, flowering stem leaves (of plants with hysteranthus leaves) entirely sheathing or with blades up to 6 cm long.
Morphology Stem
Stem unbranched.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Spike (2)3–7(14)-flowered, erect; bracts green, sometimes dry and pale apically, (2.5)4–7 cm long, the inner slightly shorter than the outer.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers either red to orange with a yellow mark on each of the 3 lower tepals, or flowers yellow to greenish and often with red to brown streaks on the upper tepals; perianth tube (25)35–45 mm long, nearly cylindric and curving outward in the upper half; tepals unequal, the 3 upper tepals 35–50 × 22–30 mm and broadly elliptic-obovate, the uppermost larger than the others and horizontal to down-curved concealing the stamens, the upper lateral tepals about as long as, to c. 5 mm shorter than, the uppermost, 20–30 mm wide and directed forwards often curving outward distally, the lower 3 tepals 20–25(30) × 8–12 mm and curving downwards, the lowermost somewhat longer and narrower than the lower lateral tepals.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
Filaments c. 25 mm long, exserted 15–18 mm; anthers 12–16 mm long, pale-yellow.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Style
Style dividing near or beyond the anther apices, style branches (4)5–6 mm long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Capsules (18)25–35 mm long, ellipsoid to ovoid.
[FZ]

Iridaceae, Peter Goldblatt. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1996

Morphology General Habit
Plants (50-)70-120(-200) cm. high.
Vegetative Multiplication Corms
Corm (1.5-)2-3 cm. in diameter, tunics of brittle, coriaceous to membranous layers, the outer becoming irregularly broken, sometimes fibrous, reddish brown, usually bearing numerous tiny cormlets around the base.
Morphology Leaves
Foliage leaves either contemporary with the flowers (subsp dalenii ) or produced after flowering (subsp andongensis ), then foliage leaves produced on separate shoots after flowering.
Morphology Stem
Stem unbranched.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Spike erect, (2-)4-7(-14)-flowered; bracts green, sometimes dry and pale apically, (2.5-)4-7 cm. long, the inner slightly shorter than the outer.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers either red to orange with a yellow mark on each of the 3 lower tepals or yellow to greenish and often with red to brown streaks on the dorsal tepals; perianth-tube (2.5-)3.5-4.5 cm. long, nearly cylindric and curving outward above; tepals unequal, the 3 upper broadly elliptic-obovate, the dorsal 3.5-5.5 × 2.2-3.5 cm., largest, horizontal to down-curved and concealing the stamens, the upper laterals ± as long to ± 5 mm. shorter than the dorsal, 2-3 cm. wide, directed forwards, often curving outward distally, the lower 3 tepals 20-25(-30) × 8-12 mm., curving downwards, the lowermost somewhat longer and narrower than the lower laterals.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
Filaments ± 2.5 cm. long, exserted 1.5-1.8 cm.; anthers 1.2-1.6 cm. long, pale yellow.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Style
Style dividing near or beyond the anther-apices, branches (4-)5-6 mm. long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Capsules ± obovoid, (1.8-)2.5-3.5 cm. long.
Figures
Fig. 16/1-2.
[FTEA]

Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592

Conservation
Predicted extinction risk: not threatened. Confidence: confident
[AERP]

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

  • Flora Zambesiaca

    • Flora Zambesiaca
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Flora of Tropical East Africa

    • Flora of Tropical East Africa
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2024. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2024. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Science Photographs

    • Copyright applied to individual images