Gladiolus rudis Lichtst. ex Roem. & Schult.

Plants 150-550 mm high, with purple cataphylls mottled with green or white, roughly textured on mottling. Corm ± globose, 20-40 mm diam.; tunics firm-papery becoming medium to coarsely fibrous, accumulating in a thick mass. Stem flexed outward above sheaths of two upper leaves, usually unbranched. Leaves 4 to 7, lower 3 to 5 basal and reaching base of spike or often shortly exceeding it, sheaths often mottled purple and green below, sword-shaped, 7-15(-20) mm wide, margins and main vein and 1 or 2 vein pairs lightly or sometimes moderately thickened, margins occasionally minutely crisped, cauline leaves shorter. Spike strongly inclined, sometimes horizontal, lightly flexuose, 2-to 5-flowered; bracts green or flushed brownish or purple, 35-50(-65) mm long, sometimes lightly folded in upper midline, inner shorter. Flowers cream-coloured, whitish or pale pink, lower half of tepals darker coloured on reverse, lower lateral tepals with yellowish spade-shaped longitudinal mark outlined in red or purple, throat yellow, unscented; perianth tube obliquely funnel-shaped, 18-21 mm long, lower cylindric part 8-10 mm long, emerging from middle of bracts, occasionally reaching bract apices; tepals lanceolate to elliptic, acute, subequal, dorsal slightly larger, ascending, arching upward distally, 32-36 x 18-20 mm, upper laterals 29-32 x 18-22 mm, spreading distally, lower tepals united for 2-3 mm, 26-32 x 13-15 mm. Filaments 12-14 mm long, exserted 5-7 mm from tube; anthers 9-12 mm long, white; pollen white. Style usually arching over stamens, rarely suberect, dividing opposite lower 1/2 of anthers, branches 6-8 mm long. Capsules and seeds unknown.