Gladiolus debilis

Gladiolus debilis, the little painted lady, has white flowers with arrow-shaped and other red markings on the three lower tepals. Up to three flowers may be borne per plant. 

The plant is pollinated by long-tongued flies. It blooms in spring, more abundantly during the first few seasons after a veld fire.

G. debilis is a geophyte, growing annual leaves and a flower stem reaching heights between 35 cm and 60 cm. One of the strap-like leaves may become taller than the flowers.

The habitat is fynbos sandstone slopes in the south-western parts of the Western Cape. This flower was photographed in Bainskloof during October (Bean and Johns, 2005; Manning, 2007; www.pacificbulbsociety.org).