Gladiolus debilis Sims

Plants (120-)250-450 mm high. Corm 8-15 mm diam.; tunics splitting into coarse wiry to ± woody claw-like segments. Stem flexed outward above sheaths of upper leaves, inclined above, unbranched. Leaves (3)4, lowermost basal and reaching to between upper 1/3 of stem and apex of spike, linear, 1-2 mm wide, main vein moderately thickened and margins usually also thickened and raised, upper leaves progressively shorter, sheathing for about 1/2 their length. Spike inclined, flexuose, 1-to 3-flowered; bracts light green to greyish, sometimes flushed dull purple, lightly ridged along veins, margins hyaline, 15-28 mm long, inner slightly shorter, minutely forked apically. Flowers white to pale pink, lower 3 tepals variously marked with red, often with a pair of large spots near base and a V-or spade-shaped distal mark, sometimes extending back along midline, lower part of throat speckled and streaked with red and filaments red, unscented; perianth tube cylindric, very slightly curved and expanded in upper 2 mm, (10-)15-22 mm long, slightly shorter to as long as bracts; tepals ovate to nearly orbicular, dorsal largest, inclined or erect, 17-27 x 10-18(-22) mm, upper laterals arching outward from base, spreading at right angles to tube, 15-27 x (9-)13-18 mm, lower tepals sometimes united basally for up to 3 mm, weakly flexed downward in upper 1/2, narrowed below, 15-24 mm long, subequal or lower median larger. Filaments 4-10 mm long, exserted 2-7 mm from tube, often reddish, or red abaxially; anthers 5-9 mm long, white above, purple below; pollen cream-coloured. Style dividing opposite to slightly beyond anther apices, branches 2-5 mm long. Capsules ellipsoid, subacute, (12-)14-18 mm long. Seeds ovate, 5-6 x ± 4 mm, broadly and evenly winged.