Gladiolus elliotii leaves

The lowest leaves of Gladiolus elliotii are cataphylls, leathery and pale, sometimes flushed purple.

Most of the five or six “proper” leaves are also basal although emerging slightly above ground-level. The leaf sheaths are short, not forming a pseudostem.

The leaves are leathery, grouped in a tight, distichous fan that usually reaches only the base of the inflorescence. The lance-shaped or rarely oblong blades may be finely hairy, up to 20 cm long. The margins are thickened, the midrib not raised much more than the other parallel veins.

The leaves are not always fully developed at flowering (Goldblatt and Manning, 1998; Pooley, 1998; Lowrey and Wright, 1987).