Gladiolus sericeovillosus subsp. sericeovillosus leaves and buds

The narrow, lance-shaped to sword-shaped leaves of Gladiolus sericeovillosus subsp. sericeovillosus taper very gradually to acutely pointed tips. They at least reach the lowest flower in the spike, here quite a bit taller.

Above the open flowers, the ambitious strings of buds on both sides of the axis, the stem, decrease in size and distance apart. The usual number of flowers in an inflorescence of this plant is from twelve to twenty, here probably around thirty. Whether they will all still open is unknown, depending on the resources left in the body, how much of the season still remains and the absence of outside interference (Goldblatt and Manning, 1998; Pooley, 1998; iNaturalist).