Gladiolus elliotii flower

In this Gladiolus elliotii flower the central lines or bands of tepal markings are darkest on the lowest one, almost black merging with the surrounding speckles that are usually blue or red. The dorsal tepal is also strongly marked but in a lighter, purple-brown shade and grainy, spread over several veins. Neither band lasts until the tepal tip.

The lower lateral tepals have some faint yellow colouring in the basal parts of their midribs. The upper lateral tepals have their central parts obscured by being behind the dorsal one (Goldblatt and Manning, 1998; Pooley, 1998; Lowrey and Wright, 1987).