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!Gladiolus appendiculatus G.J. Lewis Search in The Plant ListSearch in IPNISearch in Australian Plant Name IndexSearch in NYBG Virtual HerbariumSearch in Muséum national d'Histoire naturelleSearch in Type Specimen Register of the U.S. National HerbariumSearch in Virtual Herbaria AustriaSearch in JSTOR Plant ScienceSearch in SEINetSearch in African Plants Database at Geneva Botanical GardenAfrican Plants, Senckenberg Photo GallerySearch in Flora do Brasil 2020Search in Reflora - Virtual HerbariumSearch in Living Collections Decrease font Increase font Restore font
 

Published In: Journal of South African Botany : Supplementary Volume 10: 68. 1972. (J. S. African Bot., Suppl. Vol.) Name publication detail
 

Project Name Data (Last Modified On 6/6/2016)
Acceptance : Accepted
Taxon Profile     (Last Modified On 12/22/2016)
Description: Plants 350–600(–850) mm high. Corm globose, 15–20 mm diam.; tunics leathery to firm-papery, becoming ± fibrous or irregularly broken. Stem evidently erect and ± straight, unbranched. Leaves 6 to 9, lower 4 or 5 basal, either narrow and reaching to at least base of spike and often shortly exceeding it or broad and reaching only to middle of stem, lanceolate or narrowly sword-shaped to linear, (2.5–)4–12(–20) mm wide, sometimes longitudinally concave or channeled, main vein usually lightly thickened, margins lightly to fairly heavily thickened, intercostal surface occasionally shortly hairy, cauline leaves progressively smaller, uppermost 1 or 2 usually entirely sheathing. Spike ± erect and straight, 6–14(–27)-flowered; bracts firm-textured, green to grey-purple but usually dry and brownish above by anthesis, outer 18–30 mm long, overlapping and usually 1/2 to 2 internodes long, inner shorter or almost as long. Flowers white or pale to deep pink, lower laterals or all 3 lower tepals with small purplish spot or sometimes crescent in upper 1/3, yellowish in throat, unscented; perianth tube obliquely funnel-shaped, ± 15 mm long; tepals ovate, ± acute, upper 3 largest, 15–18 × 10–12 mm, dorsal arching over stamens, strongly channeled, upper laterals directed forward, curving outward in distal 1/3, lower 3 tepals united for ± 3 mm, 9–12 mm long, channeled below, curving downward above. Filaments 9–11 mm long, exserted ± 3 mm from tube; anthers appressed to dorsal tepal, 8–9 mm long including sterile spurs 3–4 mm long, pale yellow fading to mauve, spurs white, held at right angles to anther thecae; pollen whitish. Style arching over stamens, dividing opposite upper 1/3 of anthers, branches ± 3 mm long. Capsules and seeds unknown. Flowering time: mainly April and May, occasionally March.
Country: South Africa, Swaziland
South African Province: KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga
Distribution and ecology: extending along the eastern escarpment from Mariepeskop and Pilgrim’s Rest in Mpumalanga into Swaziland and as far as south as Vryheid in northern KwaZulu-Natal; in rocky grassland, usually above 1 800 m, at least sometimes in dolerite clay.
Diagnosis: among the three species with basally spurred anthers, Gladiolus appendiculatus is recognized by its short-tubed, white or pale pink flowers with perianth tube ± 15 mm long. The species includes two distinct forms. Taller plants, more than 450 mm tall, with narrow leaves 2.5–8 mm wide reaching to the middle of the spike and up to 25 flowers per spike are known from Swaziland and near Lydenburg in Mpumalanga. Shorter plants with broader leaves 8–12 mm wide not reaching the base of the spike and 5 to 12 flowers per spike have been recorded from Pilgrim’s Rest and Barberton to Wakkerstroom and Vryheid. Intermediates occur near Lydenburg and Barberton.

 


 

Specimens whose coordinates are enclosed in square brackets [ ] have been mapped to a standard reference mark based on political units.
 
 
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