- Family: Iridaceae Juss.
- Genus: Gladiolus Tourn. ex L.
Gladiolus melleri Baker
- Genus: Gladiolus Tourn. ex L.
This species is accepted, and its native range is Tanzania to S. Tropical Africa.
[FZ]
Iridaceae, P. Goldblatt. Flora Zambesiaca 12:4. 1993
- Habit
- Plants 25–40(60) cm high.
- Corms
- Corms 2.5–3.5 cm in diameter; tunics straw-coloured, coriaceous, fragmenting irregularly, the outer layer sometimes becoming fibrous.
- Leaves
- Leaves borne on the flowering stem usually partly to entirely sheathing, hardly differing from the cataphylls,(1)2–3(more), sometimes with short blades 2–5(10) cm long, often partly dry by anthesis, occasionally flowering stems with 1–2 long-bladed leaves; foliage leaves produced after the flowers and on separate shoots, evidently solitary, ultimately at least 30 × c. 1 cm, lanceolate, the margins and midrib moderately thickened and hyaline.
- Stem
- Stem simple, rarely branched, 3–4 mm in diameter at the base of the spike.
- Inflorescences
- Spike 5–9(12)-flowered; bracts green, often flushed reddish and becoming membranous above, (15)20–28(35) mm long, the inner slightly shorter than the outer.
- Flowers
- Flowers orange-red to pink, rarely yellow to whitish, without markings; perianth tube (12)18–20(30) mm long, widening evenly from the base, gently curving outwards; tepals unequal, the upper 3 tepals 25–38 × 15–18 mm and strongly recurved distally, the uppermost horizontal or down-tilted, the upper lateral tepals slightly narrower and directed forwards, the lower tepals curving downwards, the lower lateral tepals c. 25 × 12–15 mm, the lowermost 30–35 mm long, often about as long as the upper.
- Stamens
- Filaments 8–10 mm long, included in the upper pan of the tube; anthers 10–12 mm long.
- Style
- Style dividing 2–3 mm beyond the apex of the anthers, style branches 6–8 mm long.
- Fruits
- Capsules 15–20(25) mm long, oblong to ellipsoid.
[FWTA]
Iridaceae, F. N. Hepper. Flora of West Tropical Africa 3:1. 1968
- Habit
- A herb with almost leafless stems 2-3 ft. high
- Flowers
- Pale pink flowers
- Ecology
- In rocky upland savanna.
[FTEA]
Iridaceae, Peter Goldblatt. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1996
- Habit
- Plants 25-40(-60) cm. high.
- Corms
- Corm 2.5-3.5 cm. in diameter, tunics coriaceous, fragmenting irregularly, straw-coloured, the outer layer sometimes becoming fibrous.
- Leaves
- Foliage leaves of the flowering stem usually all partly to entirely sheathing, (1-)2-3(or more), hardly differing from the cataphylls, sometimes with short blades 2-5(-10) cm. long, often partly dry by anthesis; foliage leaves produced after flowering on separate shoots, evidently solitary, lanceolate, ultimately at least 30 cm. long, ± 1 cm. wide, the margins and midrib moderately thickened and hyaline; occasionally flowering stems with 1-2 long-laminate leaves.
- Stem
- Stem unbranched, rarely branched, 3-4 mm. in diameter at the base of the spike.
- Inflorescences
- Spike 5-9(-12)-flowered; bracts (1.5-)2-2.8(-3.5) cm. long, green, often flushed reddish and becoming membranous above, the inner slightly shorter than the outer.
- Flowers
- Flowers either orange-red to pink or rarely yellow to whitish, without markings; perianth-tube (1.2-)1.8-2 cm. long, widening evenly from the base, gently curving outward; tepals unequal, the upper 3 2.5-3.8 × 1.5-1.8 cm., strongly recurved distally, the dorsal horizontal or down-tilted, the upper laterals slightly narrower, directed forwards, the lower tepals curving downwards, the lower laterals ± 2.5 × 1.2-1.5 cm., the lowermost 3-3.5 cm. long, often ± as long as the upper.
- Stamens
- Filaments 8-10 mm. long, included in the upper part of the tube; anthers 0.7-1.2 cm. long.
- Style
- Style dividing 2-3 mm. beyond the apex of the anthers, the branches 6-8 mm. long.
- Fruits
- Capsules oblong-obovoid, 1.5-2(-2.5) cm. long.
- Habitat
- Seasonally wet sites, such as the margins of valley grassland and in poorly drained wooded grassland; flowering at the end of the dry season, from August to November; 1200-2600 m.; flowering is stimulated by fire and signs of burning are common on specimens
- Distribution
- T4 T7
Native to:
Angola, Burundi, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia, Zaïre, Zimbabwe
Gladiolus melleri Baker appears in other Kew resources:
| Date | Reference | Identified As | Barcode | Type Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milne-Redhead, E. [3962], Angola | 38389.000 | |||
| Bullock, A.A. [1936], Tanzania | 24263.000 | |||
| Kirk [s.n.], Malawi | K000320832 | Unknown type material | ||
| Kirk [s.n.], Malawi | K000320835 | lectotype | ||
| Whyte, A. [s.n.], Malawi | K000320830 | lectotype | ||
| Whyte, A. [s.n.], Malawi | K000320831 | syntype | ||
| Meller, C.J. [s.n.], Malawi | K000320833 | syntype | ||
| Meller, C.J. [s.n.], Malawi | K000320834 | syntype |
First published in J. Bot. 14: 334 (1876)
Accepted by
- Geerinck, D (2005). Flore d'Afrique Centrale (Zaïre - Rwanda - Burundi) Iridaceae: 1-102. Jardin Botanique National de Belgique, Meise.
- Govaerts, R. (2003). World Checklist of Seed Plants Database in ACCESS G: 1-40325.
Literature
Flora of West Tropical Africa
- Bot. Mag. t. 8626
- F.T.A. 7: 362.
- in J. Bot. 14: 334 (1876)
Kew Backbone Distributions
- Geerinck, D (2005). Flore d'Afrique Centrale (Zaïre - Rwanda - Burundi) Iridaceae: 1-102. Jardin Botanique National de Belgique, Meise.
Flora of Tropical East Africa
- Goldblatt in Gladiolus Trop. Afr.: 242 (1996).
- Goldblatt in Flora Zambesiaca 12(4): 97 (1993)
- Baker in Flora of Tropical Africa 7: 362 (1898).
- Baker in Handb. Irid.: 212 (1892)
- Baker in Journal of Botany 14: 334 (1876)
Art and Illustrations in Digifolia
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Flora Zambesiaca
Flora Zambesiaca
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Flora of Tropical East Africa
Flora of Tropical East Africa
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Flora of West Tropical Africa
Flora of West Tropical Africa
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Kew Backbone Distributions
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© Copyright 2017 World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone
The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2021. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
© Copyright 2017 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0