Rod and Rachel Saunders are finding a lot of variation in species as
they search for Gladiolus in the wild for their book. Some
populations don't quite fit the descriptions in some of the Goldblatt
-Manning books. There is great diversity in the wild which is why we
have added multiple photos of many of the species to the wiki to
illustrate this. I remember it being a bit hopeless to distinguish
between Gladiolus venustus and G. scullyi. Some people were
identifying plants by virtue of where they were growing, not how they
looked.

When I first looked at Terry's photos it reminded me of Gladiolus
quadrangularis even though the plants I grew from Silverhill Seed
didn't fit the description of that species.

The key for that species in the Encyclopedia is:
Tepals lanceolate, the upper laterals more than twice as long as
wide; flowers with the lower tepals uniformly red or orange toward the
base.
It can bloom between August and October. But the spike usually has
more flowers than Terry's plants, 4 to 10. Leaves linear, the midrib
strongly raised, x shaped in cross section, 2.4-4mm wide. Corm
globose with tunics of firm, wiry fibers.

Another to consider is Gladiolus huttonii or one of those hybrids of
it. It blooms at the right time. Leaves are the same description as
G. quadrangularis, but 2-3 mm. wide. Corm is ovoid with tunics of
coarse fibers. Flowers are in a 3 to 8 flowered spike, red to orange
with the lower tepals sometimes yellow. The flowers are large, with
the dorsal tepal 25-60 cm.

Terry could always call this Gladiolus sp., Homoglossum section.

Mary Sue

_______________________________________________
pbs mailing list
pbs@lists.ibiblio.org
http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php
http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/