Gladiolus emiliae L.Bolus

Plants (300-)450-600 mm high, with cataphylls sparsely hairy below or glabrous, apex often becoming dry and brown. Corm globose to depressed-globose, 20-25 mm diam.; tunics papery breaking irregularly and becoming fibrous. Stem lightly flexed outward above sheath of uppermost leaf, gently inclined above, unbranched. Leaves 2, both entirely sheathing, lower inserted shortly above ground, 60-80 mm long, upper inserted on upper 1/3 of stem, margins partially or completely united around stem; leaves of non-flowering plants and seedlings solitary, linear or narrowly lanceolate, ultimately 600-750 x 7 mm, pubescent, margins and main vein lightly thickened, emerging soon after flowering and growing during winter and spring. Spike inclined, 3-to 8(10)-flowered; bracts green, sometimes red to purple on upper margins, outer 20-25 mm long, obtuse to ± truncate, inner slightly longer or shorter, usually notched. Flowers brownish or pale to dull yellow and lightly to heavily dotted or streaked with reddish brown to maroon, or tepals almost uniformly dark red-brown, usually more intensely coloured along tepal midlines, lower tepals each with dark red streak in lower midline, spicy-sweet-scented day and night; perianth tube 32-45 mm long, slender lower part 25-35 mm long, sharply curved at apex of cylindric part into a flared upper part 7-10 mm long; tepals ovate-lanceolate, spreading distally, dorsal slightly larger than others, upper 3 tepals 14-18 x 8-10 mm, lower 3 tepals joined to upper laterals for 2-4 mm and together for up to 1-2 mm, 14-20 x 5-8 mm. Filaments 9-12 mm long, exserted 3-5 mm from tube; anthers 5-7 mm long, brownish dorsally, dark yellow ventrally; pollen cream-coloured. Style dividing between middle and apices of anthers, branches ± 3 mm long. Capsules obovoid to ellipsoid, 20-27 mm long, Seeds oval to oblong, 8-9 x 5-6 mm, broadly and evenly winged.