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!Gladiolus gracillimus Baker 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: Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information, Royal Gardens, Kew 1895: 74. 1895. (Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew) Name publication detailView in Biodiversity Heritage Library
 

Project Name Data (Last Modified On 1/15/2017)
Acceptance : Accepted
Taxon Profile     (Last Modified On 1/16/2017)
Description: Plants small, 150–300(–400) mm high, with green or purple cataphylls. Corm 9–12 mm diam.; tunics of fine netted fibers, occasionally extending upward in a weakly developed collar. Leaves 2, the lower basal, tightly sheathing the stem for 1/2 to 3/4 of its length, blade usually reaching to about top of spike, upper leaf inserted shortly below the spike, shorter or sometimes exceeding apex of lower leaf, blades linear, 30–50 x 0.5–1 mm, margins and main vein somewhat to moderately thickened and with two fairly narrow grooves on each surface. Stem erect, unbranched, sheathed for most of its length, flexed sharply outward above sheath of upper leaf. Spike 2- to 4(–7)-flowered, inclined 45, flexuose; bracts green, sometimes flushed purple, 7–10 mm long, inner slightly shorter than outer. Flowers usually pale blue to lilac, occasionally white, lower 3 tepals each with a dark blue to purple diamond-shaped mark in upper half, or uniformly purple, or pale yellow to greenish with deep yellow markings on lower 3 tepals; perianth tube 7–10 mm long, curved outward and emerging between bracts; tepals unequal, dorsal largest and hooded over stamens, (8–)10–15 x 8–11 mm, upper laterals directed forward, lower 3 united for 3–4 mm, held close together, more or less horizontal or tilted downward, 7–12 x 4–5 mm, in profile much exceeding upper, abruptly narrowed below into claws. Filaments 6–8 mm long, unilateral and arcuate, usually exserted 3–4 mm from tube; anthers parallel, 4.5–6 mm long, usually yellow. Ovary c. 2 mm long; style arched over filaments, reaching to about apex of anthers, branches 1.5–2 mm long, extending beyond anthers. Capsules obovate-ellipsoid, 7–8 mm long; seeds oblong-elliptic, (3.5–)5 x 2.5 mm, broadly (to narrowly) winged. Flowering time: November and December, occasionally in early January, at the end of the dry season or early in the wet season.
Country: Zambia, Tanzania, Malawi
Distribution and ecology: fairly widespread across central Africa, from the northern Zambian provinces of Luapula and Northern into western Tanzania and northern Malawi, in Tanzania restricted to the Ufipa Plateau and in Malawi it ranges no farther south than Mzimba; in wet habitats either permanently or seasonally waterlogged, blooming at the end of the dry season when the surrounding vegetation is burnt or grazed to the ground. By the time the capsules mature, the plants are often in saturated soil or even in standing water, and under such conditions the seeds are probably readily dispersed by water rather than by wind despite the broad membranous wing.
Diagnosis: the unusual habit of Gladiolus gracillimus, of low, slender stature and with only two leaves, the lower sheathing the stem for most of its length and with a short linear blade that usually exceeds the short upper leaf, is shared by two other species, G. pusillus from northern Zambia and Katanga in Congo, and G. tshombeanus from heavy-metal-enriched sites in southern Katanga. G. pusillus has very small yellow to white flowers with yellow nectar guides and is easily distinguished from G. gracillimus despite their similar fine netted fibrous corm tunics. G. tshombeanus is more readily confused with it, and only the brown coarsely fibrous or partly coriaceous corm tunics that extend upward in a neck, terete, four-grooved leaf blades, and angular rather than winged seeds separate the two. The flowers are fairly typical in shape for the smaller-flowered species of Gladiolus, although they exhibit a fair range of variation in size. The upper tepal is always largest and hooded over the stamens and the lower three tepals are narrow, united for a short distance, and distinctly clawed below.

 


 

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