Gladiolus monticola, the bergpypie

The Gladiolus monticola inflorescence in picture has its bud erect, open flowers facing outwards and spent ones pendulous. The mature, angled corolla in time slips between the rigidly erect tips of its two grey bracts, no longer capable of holding the weight. 

The exterior of the bud corolla is cream, those of the other flowers about white. Yellow stripes emerge from the lower three tepal bases inside the flowers, ending in faint red, short sections near midway of the tepal length. The lower three tepals are slightly longer than the upper three.

The stem curves between flowers in the inflorescence (Goldblatt and Manning, 1998; Manning, 2007).