Gladiolus floribundus angled inflorescence

Gladiolus floribundus bears its unscented flowers in a spike with dull green to grey-purple bracts, the inner bract below each flower slightly smaller with notched tip.

The inflorescence may be as large as 10 to 13 flowers, inclined to horizontal. The specific name, floribundus is derived from the Latin words floreo meaning to flower and abundans meaning overflowing or abundant, referring to the profuse flowering of the plant.

The flowers are two-lipped, the unequal tepals lanceolate to elliptic, often with rounded tips. The dorsal tepal is the biggest, inclined over the stamens. The flowers are cream, pale greenish or ivory, sometimes pale pink. Flower diameter is up to 6 cm, the corolla tube up to 7 cm long, longer than that of G. grandiflorus, a similar plant. Dark stripes occur along the midlines of the lower three tepals or on all except the dorsal one.

The three filaments are about 21 mm long and exserted, their oblong anthers dark purple. The oblong, inferior ovary is up to 6 mm long. The style is taller than the stamens, arching over the anthers and ending in three branches.

Flowering happens in spring, sometimes only in the later part of it.

Pollination is done by long-tongued flies (Curtis-Scott, et al, 2020; Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Goldblatt and Manning, 1998; iNaturalist; https://www.pacificbulbsociety.org).