302 THE STORY OF PLANT LIFE 



Open ground in woods amongst bracken is the 

 habitat of the Gladiolus. It is found in meadows, 

 woods, and on grassy heath on the Continent. The 

 British type differs from the Continental. 



In habit the plant is iridaceous. The stem is tall. 

 The ovate corm has bulbils below, and is clothed 

 with fibres, which are nearly parallel, netted above, 

 the openings long and narrow. The sheaths are 

 two-edged. The leaves are slender, sword-Hke, 

 linear, lance-shaped, not so long as the stem, bluish- 

 green, with a long and narrow point. 



The flowers are red, then blue, four to eight, in a 

 one-sided spike. The scape is leafy. The spathes 

 are nearly equal, lance-shaped, with a long, narrow 

 point. The perianth is bell-shaped, curved. The 

 three upper segments are spoon-shaped. The lower 

 three are inversely ovate, pale and have reddish- 

 purple veins. The expanded part of the segments is 

 oblong to lance-shaped, the upper broader and longer 

 than the rest. The basal petal is acute, longer than 

 the blunt lower lateral petal, the edges of the upper 

 petal not covered by the two adjoining ones. The 

 tube is three times as long as the ovary. The 

 stigmas are spoon-shaped, the margins rolled inwards 

 after flowering, narrow below and wider above the 

 middle and fringed above. The anther-stalks are 

 longer than the anthers, which are linear. The 

 capsule is club-shaped, ovate, notched, three-angled, 

 the angles prominent and rounded, short, flattened 

 above. The seeds have a narrow wing. 



