Gladiolus overbergensis Goldblatt & M.p.de Vos

Plants 350-500 mm high, with cataphylls green, firm-textured and pilose. Corm globose, 15-20 mm diam.; tunics leathery to woody, fragmenting into coarse woody fibres. Stem straight or slightly flexed above sheathing parts of 2 upper leaves but becoming erect again, occasionally branched. Leaves 4, lower 3 basal, lower 2 longest reaching to ± middle of stem, sheaths and blades with minute, recurved, prickly-scabrid hairs on veins, narrowly lanceolate to nearly linear, 2.5-4.0 mm wide, main and one other vein pair lightly raised, margins not thickened, uppermost leaf inserted on ± middle of stem, usually entirely sheathing, usually channelled throughout, also with recurved prickles. Spike ± erect, 2-to 5-flowered; bracts pale green or flushed grey-purple, outer 28-42 mm long, inner slightly shorter to ± as long, minutely notched apically. Flowers scarlet or lower 3 tepals orange or yellow, upper three and sometimes lower lightly streaked and spotted with darker red toward base, unscented; perianth tube 46-55 mm long, lower part narrow for 18-20 mm, abruptly expanded into a wider cylindric horizontal upper part 24-35 mm long and ± 7 x 6 mm diam.; tepals broadly obovate to round, upper 3 larger than lower, dorsal largest, arched slightly above horizontal, 22-26 x 18-22 mm, upper laterals slightly smaller, 18-24 x 12-16 mm, much overlapping dorsal, lower lateral tepals 10-14 x 8-12 mm, lower median 13-16 x 8-10 mm, straight and tilted toward ground. Filaments 38-42 mm long, exserted ± 12 mm from tube; anthers 7-8 mm long, yellow; pollen pale yellow. Style extending horizontally over stamens, dividing shortly below anther tips, branches 3-4 mm long. Capsules and seeds unknown.