Gladiolus elliotii

Gladiolus elliotii grows annual above-ground parts reaching heights to 50 cm from a depressed to globose corm.

The flowers grow in two opposing ranks in a many-flowered spike, subtended by large bracts. The flower tubes that are less than 5 cm long curve down slightly. The flower colours range from white to pink or milky-blue with faint pink or maroon markings on the tepals. These markings consist of tiny scattered spots and a distinct longitudinal line on the inside of the upper tepal. The blooming season is late spring through autumn, peaking in midsummer.

The species distribution is in the Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Gauteng; also in Zimbabwe.

The habitat is highveld grassland, more in moist, well-drained summer rainfall parts than wetlands. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Goldblatt and Manning, 1998; Lowrey and Wright, 1987; www.lifestyleseeds.co.za; http://redlist.sanbi.org).