Gladiolus sericeovillosus subsp. sericeovillosus spike

A Gladiolus sericeovillosus subsp. sericeovillosus spike may be slightly angled. The compactly alternating flowers in opposing ranks may at first glance appear as if they are all open simultaneously.

A closer look allows the discovery of a bud at the top still to spread its tepals and some at the bottom that have withered. The bract-covered floral parts at each flower base where the inferior ovaries are probably being protected, show hardly any change as the corollas wither and disappear (Goldblatt and Manning, 1998; Pooley, 1998; iNaturalist).