Gladiolus candidus

Description

Plants 20-40 cm high. Corm globose, 12-25 mm in diam., tunics firm-papery, breaking into vertical fibers above and below. Cataphylls 2-3, membranous, the uppermost extending above the ground and green. Leaves 2-3, all - basal, narrowly lanceolate, about half as long as the stem, 5-10 mm at the widest. Stem unbranched, c. 2.5 mm in diam. below the first flower. Spike 2-4-flowered; bracts (2.5-)4-5(-8) cm long, the inner shorter and narrower than the outer. Flowers white (or palest pink), sometimes with purple median streaks in the lower midline of the lower tepals, sweetly scented; perianth tube (7-)8-10 cm long, - straight and cylindric; tepals subequal, broadly lanceolate-elliptic, (20-)25-30 mm long, c. 15 mm wide. Filaments c. 2 cm long, included in the tube (or exserted 1-2 mm); anthers 8-10 mm long, with a rigid apiculus 1.3-1.8 mm long. Ovary oblong, c. 5 mm long, the style dividing opposite the anther apices, the branches 5-7 mm long often notably broad and fringed. Capsules narrowly elliptic to obovate, 18-22 mm long; seeds variously winged to wingless.