Tas. 8068. 
GLADIOLUS carminets. 
South Africa. 
Inipace®. Tribe Ixtem. 
GuanioLvs, Linn.; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant. vol. iii. p. 709; Baker, Handb. 
Iridex, p. 198. 
Gladiolus carmineus, C. H. Wright; ex affinitate G. ramosi, Paxt., sed 
spathis longioribus antherisque luteis differt. 
Caulis erectus, circa 1} ped. altus, gracilis, basi vaginis ad 2 poll. longis 
vestitus. Folia linearia, acuminata, post anthesin ad 8 poll. longa et 4 
lin, lata, glabra, costa crassa. Spatha exterior elliptica, acuminata, 2 poll. 
longa, interior similis, sed 1} poll. longa. Flores circa 3 poll. diam. ; 
perianthii tubus anguste infundibuliformis, apice 6 lin. diam., extuas 
pallidus ; lobi ovati, acuminati, 9 lin. lati, carminei, duo interiores basi 
macula pallidiore sanguineo-marginata instructi. Anthere oblong, 
curvate, dilute lute. Sty/i rami 3 lin. longi, lineares. 
The affinity of this species is with G. hirsutus, Jacq., a 
native of Cape Colony, of which the variety roseus has 
been figured in this Magazine, t.574. That species differs, 
however, in having the stem and leaves hairy and the 
perianth-tube more curved. Bulbs of the present plant were 
received at Kew in 1903 from Hon. Sir C. Abercrombie 
Smith, Controller and Auditor General, Cape of Good 
Hope, who found it ‘‘ at Hermanus, a small village on the 
Southern Coast of South Africa, on the sandstone cliffs 
from 40 to 80 feet high which skirt the sea.” Flowers 
were produced at Kew in September last. At first sight 
this plant recalls some of the forms of G. ramosus, Paxt., 
which is a hybrid between G. cardinalis, Curt. (B. M. t. 135) 
and G. oppositiflorus, Herb., but differs in its much more 
lax habit, in addition to the characters mentioned in the 
diagnosis above. In the almost regular form of the 
perianth it also approaches G. blandus, Soland. (B. M. 
t. 1665), which, like G. ramosus, has blue anthers, and 
sometimes is blotched on two (not three) of the perianth- 
lobes. The tropical African G. corneus, Oliv., has the 
perianth-tube curved in the upper part, but otherwise 
resembles G. carmineus. 
Descr.—Stem erect, slender, about a foot and a half 
high, clothed at the base with several sheaths, the longest 
Aprit Ist, 1906, 
