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Gladiolus
Gladiolus
Gladiolus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Asparagales
Family: Iridaceae
Subfamily: Ixioideae
Tribe: Ixieae
Genus: Gladiolus
L.
Species

About 260, see text

Gladiolus (from Latin, the diminutive of gladius, a sword) is a genus of flowering plants in the iris family (Iridaceae). Plants are living Organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. The flowering plants or angiosperms ( Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta) are the most widespread group Liliopsida is a Botanical name for the class containing the family Liliaceae (or Lily Family Asparagales is an order of Flowering plants The order must include the family Asparagaceae, but other families included in the order have varied markedly Iridaceae is a family of plants in Order Asparagales, taking its name from the Irises. Carl Linnaeus (Latinized as Carolus Linnaeus, also known after his ennoblement as, May 23 new style (13 May old style 1707 who laid the foundations for Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. A diminutive is a formation of a Word used to convey a slight degree of the root meaning smallness of the object or quality named encapsulation intimacy or endearment A genus (plural genera from Γένος Latin genus "descent family type gender" is a low-level Taxonomic The flowering plants or angiosperms ( Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta) are the most widespread group Iridaceae is a family of plants in Order Asparagales, taking its name from the Irises. Sometimes called the sword lily, the most widely-used English common name for these plants is simply gladiolus (plural gladioli, gladioluses or sometimes gladiolas). English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States

Contents

Description

The genus Gladiolus contains about 260 species, of which 250 are native to sub-Saharan Africa, mostly South Africa. Sub-Saharan Africa is a geographical term used to describe the area of the African continent which lies south of the Sahara, or those African countries The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa About 10 species are native to Eurasia. There are 160 species of Gladiolus endemic in southern Africa and 76 in tropical Africa. The species vary from very small to the spectacular giant flower spikes in commerce.

These attractive, perennial herbs are semihardy in temperate climates. Climate encompasses the temperatures humidity rainfall atmospheric particle count and numerous other meteorogical factors in a given region over long periods of They grow from rounded, symmetrical corms, that are enveloped in several layers of brownish, fibrous tunics. A corm is a short vertical swollen underground Plant stem that serves as a Storage organ used by some plants to survive winter or other adverse conditions

Their stems are generally unbranched, producing 1 to 9 narrow, sword-shaped, longitudinal grooved leaves, enclosed in a sheath. A stem is one of two main structural axes of a Vascular plant. In Botany, a leaf is an above-ground Plant organ specialized for Photosynthesis. The lowest leaf is shortened to a cataphyll. The leaf blades can be plane or cruciform in cross section.

The fragrant flower spikes are large and one-sided, with secund, bisexual flowers, each subtended by 2 leathery, green bracts. A flower, also known as a bloom or Blossom, is the reproductive structure found in Flowering plants (plants of the division Magnoliophyta, also Secund (Lat secundus, "following" is a Botanical term used of Plants when similar parts are directed to one side only as flowers on an axis In Botany, a bract is a modified or specialized Leaf. Bracts are ordinarily associated with reproductive structures (subtending Flowers Inflorescence The sepals and the petals are almost identical in appearance, and are termed tepals. A sepal (from Latin separatus "separate" + petalum "petal" is a part of the flower of Angiosperms or flower plants A petal (from Ancient Greek petalon "leaf" "thin plate" regarded as a highly modified leaf is one member or part of the corolla They are united at their base into a tube-shaped structure. The dorsal tepal is the largest, arching over the three stamens. The stamen ( Plural stamina or stamens, from Latin stamen meaning "thread of the warp " is the male The outer three tepals are narrower. Tepals are elements of the Perianth, or outer part of a flower which include the Petals or Sepals The term tepal is usually used when all segments The perianth is funnel-shaped, with the stamens attached to its base. The term perianth has two similar but separate meanings in botany In Flowering plants the perianth is the outer sterile whorls of a Flower (see The style has three filiform, spoon-shaped branches, each expanding towards the apex. The filiform papillae are thin long Papillae "V"-shaped cones that don't contain taste buds but are the most numerous

The ovary is 3-locular with oblong or globose capsules, containing many, winged brown, longitudinally dehiscent seeds. In the Flowering plants an ovary is a part of the female reproductive organ of the flower or Gynoecium. In Botany a capsule is a type of simple dry Fruit produced by many species of Flowering plants A capsule is a dehiscent structure composed of two Dehiscence is the spontaneous opening at maturity of a plant structure such as a Fruit, Anther, or Sporangium, to release its contents A seed (in some plants referred to as a kernel) is a small embryonic Plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat usually with some stored

These flowers are variously colored, pink to reddish or light purple with white, contrasting markings, or white to cream or orange to red.

The South African species were originally pollinated by long-tongued anthrophorine bees, but some changes in the pollination system have occurred, allowing pollination by sunbirds, noctuid and sphingid moths, long-tongued flies and several others. The sunbirds and '''spiderhunters''' are very small Passerine Birds which feed largely on Nectar, although they will also take insects especially The Noctuidae or Owlet moths are a family of robustly-built Moths that includes more than 35000 known species out of possibly 100000 total in more than 4200 genera For a complete species list of this family see the Sphingidae species list.

Gladioli are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including the Large Yellow Underwing. A larva ( Latin; plural larvae) is a juvenile form of Animal with indirect development, undergoing Metamorphosis (for example Lepidoptera is an order of Insect that includes Moths and butterflies. The Large Yellow Underwing ( Noctua pronuba) is a Moth, the type species for the family Noctuidae.

Gladioli have been extensively hybridized and a wide range of ornamental flower colours are available from the many varieties. In Biology, hybrid has two meanings The first meaning is the result of interbreeding between two animals or plants of different taxa. The main hybrid groups have been obtained by crossing between four or five species, followed by selection: Grandiflorus, Primulines and Nanus. They make very good cut flowers. However, due to their height, the cultivated forms frequently tend to fall over in the wind if left on the plant. Wind is the flow of Air or other Gases that compose an Atmosphere (including but not limited to the Earth's)

Species

Growing the Gladioli
Seasonal
Location Full sun, not in wind
Plant Spring
Flowers Late summer - Spring
Notes Plant some corms every 2 weeks to get long-lasting coverage
Gladiolus alatus, Clanwilliam, RSA
Gladiolus alatus, Clanwilliam, RSA
Gladiolus cardinalis from Curtis's Botanical Magazine 1790
Gladiolus cardinalis
from Curtis's Botanical Magazine 1790
Waved-flowered Gladiolus (Gladiolus undulatus) from Curtis's Botanical Magazine 1801
Waved-flowered Gladiolus (Gladiolus undulatus)
from Curtis's Botanical Magazine 1801
Gladiolus hybrid, Grandiflorus group
Gladiolus hybrid, Grandiflorus group
Gladiolus dalenii
Gladiolus dalenii
A Gladiolus hybrid
A Gladiolus hybrid
Gladiolus imbricatus
Gladiolus imbricatus

The genus Gladiolus has been divided in to many sections. Gladiolus dalenii originates from South African seed Look Produces 5 tall flower spikes of intense scarlet orange flowers each with a bright Where possible, the sections have been indicated. Most species, however, are only tentatively placed.

Cultivation

In temperate zones, the corms of most species and hybrids should be lifted in autumn and stored over winter in a frost-free place, then replanted in spring. Autumn (also known as fall in North American English) is one of the four Temperate Seasons Autumn marks the transition from Summer Winter is one of the four Seasons of Temperate zones Calculated astronomically, it begins on the Solstice and ends on the Equinox Frost is the solid deposition of Water vapor from saturated air Spring is one of the four Temperate Seasons Spring marks the transition from Winter into Summer. Some species from Europe and high altitudes in Africa, as well as the small 'Nanus' hybrids, are much hardier (to at least -15°F/-26°C) and can be left in the ground in regions with sufficiently dry winters. Plants are propagated either from small cormlets produced as offsets by the parent corms, or from seed; in either case, they take several years to get to flowering size. Plant propagation is the process of artificially or naturally propagating (distributing or spreading Plants Sexual propagation (seed See also A corm is a short vertical swollen underground Plant stem that serves as a Storage organ used by some plants to survive winter or other adverse conditions A seed (in some plants referred to as a kernel) is a small embryonic Plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat usually with some stored

A popular 'Nanus' cultivar is Atom.

In popular culture

The stage character Dame Edna Everage has adopted the gladiolus as her trademark flower; the flowers often appear in her publicity photos and stage appearances. Dame Edna Everage is a character played by Australian Comedian Barry Humphries. The singer Morrissey has done the same thing since his days in The Smiths in the 1980s, this use of flowers being unusual in popular-music circles. Steven Patrick Morrissey (ˈmɒɹɪsiː born May 22, 1959) known primarily as Morrissey, is a British Singer and Lyricist The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982

External links

References

Dictionary

gladiolus

-noun

  1. (anatomy) The center part of the sternum.
  2. Any of several flowering plants, of the genus Gladiolus, having sword-shaped leaves and showy flowers on spikes; gladiola
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