Gladiolus abbreviatus Andrews

Plants 350-550 mm high. Corm globose-obconic, 10-12 mm diam.; tunics cartilaginous, splitting into fibres. Stem straight and erect, unbranched, often flushed red or purple. Leaves 3, lower 2 basal, lowermost markedly longest, reaching or shortly exceeding top of spike, centric, X-shaped in section, 3-4 mm wide, main raised into ridges up to half as wide as blade, margins lightly thickened, second leaf sheathing stem almost to base of spike and overlapping third leaf, with filiform blade up to 50 mm long, uppermost leaf inserted on upper 1/4 of stem, entirely sheathing and bract-like, often dull purple. Spike erect, nearly straight, 4-to 6(9)-flowered; bracts greenish grey flushed dark red, or olive-green flushed brown or orange, outer 45-60(-70) mm long, inner much shorter, acute or barely notched apically. Flowers predominantly red to orange, dorsal tepal flushed brownish and pale to almost transparent on lower edges, upper lateral and lower tepals darker red, brown, or green, unscented; perianth tube 40-52 mm long, lower half narrow and cylindric, ascending, 17-25 mm long, abruptly expanded into a wide cylindric upper part, 24-30 mm long, ascending, 5-6 mm diam.; tepals with dorsal longest, elliptic, 16-31 x 11-15 mm, extended horizontally, upper laterals joined to dorsal for ± 3 mm, ovate-apiculate, 7-11 mm long, suberect, lower laterals deltoid, 5-6 mm long, lower median 3-4 mm long. Filaments 28-44 mm long, exserted 8-17 mm from tube; anthers 8-12 mm long, dull reddish; pollen yellow. Style arching over stamens, dividing opposite upper 1/3 of anthers, branches 4-6 mm long. Capsules elongate-elliptic, (20-)30-38 mm long. Seeds ovate, usually tapering at one end, 6-7 ± 4 mm, broadly and evenly winged.