Gladiolus italicus
Gard. Dict. ed. 8, Gladiolus no. 2. 1768.
Plants 50–100 cm. Corms tunicate, ca. 20 mm diam.; tunic fibrous. Stems usually simple. Leaves 3–5, ± reaching base of spike; blade plane, lanceolate, sometimes narrowly so, 8–22 mm wide. Spikes 6–16-flowered; spathes unequal, outer 30–40(–50) mm, inner 1/2–2/3 outer. Flowers unscented, weakly distichous; perianth tube obliquely funnel-shaped, 10–12 mm; tepals pink to light purple with narrow median white streak on outer 3 tepals, unequal, dorsal tepal 45–50 × ca. 16 mm, inner lateral tepals ca. 30 × 8 mm, outer 3 tepals connate for ca. 5 mm, outer lateral tepals ca. 25 mm, outer median tepal ca. 20 mm; filaments ca. 12 mm; anthers ca. 15 mm; style branching opposite level of anther apices; branches ca. 2.5 mm. Capsules globose, 10-12 mm. Seeds globose or lightly angled, 2–3 mm diam.
Phenology: Flowering mostly Apr–May.
Habitat: Roadsides, crop fields
Elevation: 500 m
Distribution
Introduced; Calif., probably native to Near East.
Discussion
Gladiolus italicus is a weed of cultivation, not known certainly as a truly wild plant. Occasionally, small-flowered plants with aborted anthers occur in some populations, but such gynodioecious individuals have not been recorded in North America.
Selected References
None.