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(Last Modified On 1/16/2017)
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Description:
Plants 450–750 mm high, with cataphylls often partly pubescent. Corm c. 15 mm diam.; tunics of papery to finely fibrous layers. Leaves 6 or 7, lower 4 more or less basal and largest, reaching to base or middle of spike, blades narrowly lanceolate to nearly linear, (2–)3.5–6 mm wide, sheaths especially of lowermost often with a sparse or rarely dense short pubescence, blades occasionally sparsely puberulent, main veein and margins lightly thickened, upper leaves cauline and decreasing in size above, uppermost leaves usually entirely sheathing. Stem simple or rarely 1-branched, c. 2.5 mm diam. at spike base. Spike 6- to 12-flowered, flexed below the first flower and inclined toward ground; bracts green, lanceolate, attenuate, firm-membranous, green or flushed purple, becoming dry only after flowering, (20–)25–35(–45) mm long, inner slightly shorter than outer. Flowers pink to mauve, fading to whitish in throat, the lower 3 tepals each cream in lower half; perianth tube obliquely funnel-shaped, curving outward near apex, c. 10 mm long; tepals unequal, upper 3 largest, lanceolate, 22–26 mm long, often less when dry, dorsal inclined over stamens, c. 12 mm wide, lower 3 inclined toward ground, lower laterals smallest, c. 18 x 8-10 mm. Filaments 10–12 mm long, exserted 4–5 mm from tube; anthers 7–8(–10) mm long, apices obtuse, yellow. Ovary ellipsoid, c. 5 mm long; style arching over filaments, usually dividing at or beyond anther apices, branches c. 4 mm long, extending beyond anthers, expanded above. Capsules obovoid-ellipsoid, 15–20 mm long; seeds more or less oval, 5–6 x 3–3.5 mm. Chromosome number 2n = 30. Flowering time: mostly in March and April but sometimes as late as May.
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Country:
Mozambique, Malawi
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Distribution and ecology:
well known from the higher elevations of the Shire Highlands of southern Malawi and reported from most of the higher mountains of the area, including Ndirandi, Zomba, Malosa, Chiradzulu, and the Mulanje Massif and a collection from a montane site in nearby western Mozambique,probably also belongs in G. zambesiacus but these plants have unusually narrow and entirely glabrous leaves, c. 3 mm wide, with thickened margins and midribs; favoring exposed habitats,usually in thin soil in rocky crevices that bake completely dry during the winter months but are seasonally moist, although well drained during the wet summer. The flowers of G. zambesiacus are regularly visited by large solitary bees of the family Anthophoridae, and the species must be assumed to be primarily adapted for bee pollination.
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Diagnosis:
moderate-sized to fairly large pale pink flowers with a cream throat and cream lower tepals tipped with pink, yellow anthers, and several well-developed leaves, nearly always minutely pubescent on the basal leaf sheaths and lower blades, characterize Gladiolus zambesiacus. The inclined spike, fairly short perianth tube in relation the length of the dorsal tepal, and the narrow but comparatively long lower tepals, all plesiomorphic, make the immediate affinities of this species difficult to assess, except for an obviously close similarity with the western Angolan G. chelamontanus. The two species can be distinguished largely by differences in their foliage. The leaves of G. zambesiacus are plane, broad, and relatively soft-textured, whereas in G. chelamontanus the leaves are linear and have strongly thickened margins and midribs. G. zambesiacus is easily confused with the superficially similar G. erectiflorus. The latter, which occurs widely across southern tropical Africa but does not extend as far south as southern Malawi, also has fairly large flowers, often of a pinkish color. The tepals of G. erectiflorus spread more widely than those of G. zambesiacus, are subequal (the three lower tepals of G. zambesiacus are much smaller than the upper), and are conspicuously veined with pink to red. In addition, the anthers of G. erectiflorus are dark red to purple, unlike the yellow anthers of G. zambesiacus, and the upper leaves are not reduced to short sheaths but have long linear blades
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