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Order: Asparagales
Family: Iridaceae
Subfamily: Ixioideae
Tribe: Ixieae Gladiolus is a genus of perennial bulbous flowering plants. Sometimes called the sword lily, the most widely-used English common name for these plants is simply gladiolus. These attractive, perennial herbs are semihardy in temperate climates. Gladiolus grow from rounded, symmetrical corms, that are enveloped in several layers of brownish, fibrous tunics. The stems are generally unbranched, producing 1 to 9 narrow, sword-shaped, longitudinal grooved leaves, enclosed in a sheath. The lowest leaf is shortened to a cataphyll. The leaf blades can be plane or cruciform in cross section. The fragrant flower spikes are large and one-sided, with secund, bisexual flowers, each subtended by 2 leathery, green bracts. The sepals and the petals are almost identical in appearance, and are termed tepals. They are united at their base into a tube-shaped structure. The dorsal tepal is the largest, arching over the three stamens. The outer three tepals are narrower. The perianth is funnel-shaped, with the stamens attached to its base. Their style has three filiform, spoon-shaped branches, each expanding towards the apex. The ovary is 3-locular with oblong or globose capsules, containing many, winged brown, longitudinally dehiscent seeds. In their center must be noticeable the specific pellet like structure which is the real seed without the fine coat. In some seeds this structure is wrinkled and with black color. These seeds are unable to germinate. These flowers are variously colored, pink to reddish or light purple with white, contrasting markings, or white to cream or orange to red. |
