Gladiolus scullyi zigzagging spike

There is a pronounced zigzag shape in the inflorescence stem of the slightly inclined Gladiolus scullyi spike in the photo. The flower stem may be simple or branching once or twice. It is up to 2 mm in diameter below the flowers.

The plant produces five to eight stalkless flowers alternately facing in opposite directions in their two-ranked spike.

The pale green floral bracts fit closely around the flower tube bases. The bracts are translucent along their veins. The larger, outer bract often has a dry tip, its smaller counterpart a forked one.

Strong recurving of the lower tepals in the open flowers is present in the photo (Goldblatt and Manning, 1998; Le Roux, et al, 2005; iNaturalist).