Gladiolus woodii bracts

The bracts around Gladiolus woodii corolla bases are sometimes brown like the tepals instead of green. The two bracts low down on the bud from which the still closed dark corolla is escaping display the way the tepals are held. On the bud immediately higher up the bract tips are close together still, like cat’s ears.

The outer bract is up to 16 mm long, the inner variable, shorter or longer (Goldblatt and Manning, 1998; Pooley, 1998; Trauseld, 1969; iNaturalist).