Gladiolus aquamontanus

Quick Characteristics:

Gladiolus aquamontanus Goldblatt is a local endemic found on streams and wet cliffs in the Swartberg Mountains in the Western Cape. A winter rainfall plant, it grows from 40 to 100 cm, but mostly hangs down where it grows and has sword-shaped grey green evergreen leaves with lightly thickened margins and midribs. The mauve pink flowers are in a 4 to 8 flowered spike. The lower three tepals have a dark purple median streak in the lower two thirds. Flowers are unscented and bloom time is late spring to summer. One of the pbs list members who grows it has found that it never wants to be completely dry. The first photo from Rod Saunders. The next photo from the book Plants of the Klein Karoo courtesy of Jan and Anne Lise Schutte-Vlok.