Gladiolus flanaganii corm in the rock

Hardly room for grassroots in the cracks of the bare Drakensberg rock, Gladiolus flanaganii finds space to grow corms here. Does it often enough for sharing life in this extreme of the grassland. The corms of these plants don’t get bigger than about 2,8 cm in diameter.

Starting off in an unyielding crevice, a corm cannot expect to retain its normal globose shape living like this. Acceptance of being squashed by hard rock in its unseen parts while pushing back to produce leaves and flowers is inevitable. There is a layered covering of cartilaginous tunic fibres over it as consolation (Goldblatt and Manning, 1998; iNaturalist).