The arching dorsal tepal of Gladiolus oppositiflorus is lowered over the style and stamens, the upper lateral tepals spreading behind it.
The lower lateral tepals are positioned partly on top of the central, lowermost median one, obscuring much of its base part in picture, including the dark, central stripe. The lower laterals are inner tepals in the same whorl as the dorsal one (Goldblatt and Manning, 1998; Manning, 2009; Pooley, 1998; iNaturalist).