Gladiolus Studies — I 121 



blotch of white spotted with scarlet at the throat; stamens reaching nearly to the tip 

 of the segments; anthers | in. long, half the length of the filaments. {Baker in Journ. 

 Linn. Soc. xvi. 176; Handb. Irid. 220.) 



G. segetum Ker in Bot. Mag. t. 719; Reich. Ic. Crit. t. 600; Fl. Germ. tab. 353, fig. 

 781. [Description from Baker, 1892.] G. communis Linn, ex parte; Sibth. & Sm. Fl. 

 Gragc. t. 37. G. infestus Bianea. G. italicus Gaud. G. inarimensis Guss. G. Ludovidce 

 Jan. G. caucasictis Herb. Sphcerospora imbricata Sweet. — Corm globose, f-i in. diam.; 

 tunics of matted parallel fibres, reticulated upwards. Produced leaves 3-4, ensiform, 

 i-i§ ft. long, ^-f in. broad, laxly unequally nerved. Stem i-i^ ft. long. Spike lax, 

 6-io-flowered; outer spathe-valve green, lanceolate, i-ij in. long. Perianth-tube 

 curved, \-\ in. long; segments i-i\ in. long, bright purple, obovate, obtuse; the upper 



5 in. broad, with a short claw; the lateral shorter; the 3 lower as long, with a long narrov; 

 claw and white line down the keel. Anthers \ in. long, exceeding the filaments. Cap- 

 sule turbinate, h in. long, torulose when mature. Seeds brown, globose. 



G. sericeo-villosus (Hook, in Bot. Mag. t. 5427); corm large, globose; leaves about 



6 in a subbasal distichous rosette, ensiform, glabrous, strongly ribbed, I5— 2 ft. long, 

 |-l in. broad; stem 3-4 ft. long including the inflorescence, clothed throughout with 

 soft, crisped, white, spreading hairs; spike distichous, 20-30-flowered, with a flexuose, 

 densely villose axis; outer spathe-valve oblong-lanceolate, villose, scariose in the upper 

 half; flower bright yellow; perianth-tube curved, funnel-shaped, \-\ in. long; limb 

 rather longer than the tube; upper segments oblong-spathulate, \ in. broad; lower 

 narrower, unguiculate; stamens reaching halfway up the limb. Baker, Handb. Irid. 215. 



G. tristis (Linn. Sp. Plant, edit. 2, i. 53, ex parte); corm globose, i in. diam.; tunics 

 of fine parallel strands of matted fibres; stems slender, simple, 1-2 ft. long; leaves 3, 

 superposed, terete, with 3-5 much-raised, stramineous ribs, the lower i-\\ ft. long; 

 flowers 3-4 in a very lax secund spike, fragrant; spathe-valves green, lanceolate, i\-2 

 in. long; perianth-tube curved, ih-2 in. long, funnel-shaped in the upper third; limb 

 yellowish-white, sHghtly flushed on the keel of the segments with purpHsh-black; 

 segments oblong-spathulate, acute, \-\ in. broad; stamens more than half as long as 

 the perianth-limb; capsule oblong, membranous, an inch long. Thiinb. Diss. No. 8, 

 e.x parte; Curt, in Bot. Mag. t. 272; Jacq. Ic. t. 243; Ker in Bot. Mag. t. 1098; Gen. Irid. 

 136; Baker, Handb. Irid. 203. G. spiralis, Pers. Syn. i. 43; Red. Lil. t. 35. 



Var. 3» G. concolor (Salisb. Parad. t. 8); flowers almost concolorous, and a purer 

 white than in the type. G. tristis, Jacq. Ic. t. 245. 



EVOLUTION OF THE GLADIOLUS 



There are fifteen species of Gladiolus in Europe, Asia Minor, and Persia. 

 These are, according to Baker: atroviolaceus Boiss.; hyzantinus Miller; 

 communis Linn.; halophiliis Boiss.; humilis Stapf; illyricus Koch; imhri- 

 catus Linn.; Koischyamis Boiss.; micranthus Stapf; palustris Gaud.; per- 

 sicus Boiss.; segeium Ker; sintensii Baker; tricolor Stapf; triphylhis Sibth. 

 Only a few of these have been cultivated; G. communis and G. segetum, 

 however, have been cultivated for several centuries. It is not improbable 

 that the Greeks and the Romans used the flowers of native species, 

 gathered from their grain-fields,'' in their floral decorations. The plant 

 may even have been cultivated by these peoples.' However this may be, 

 there is no definite record of the time when the plant came into cultivation. 

 The two species just named either grew in Britain or were taken there in 

 early times, and, according to Gerarde (1597), were important garden plants. 

 G. hyzantinus, the Constantinople corn flag, was introduced prior to 1629. 



f Dioscorides says that a purple-flowered gladiolus {probably G. communis) grew mostly in cultivated 

 grounds. 



• Atheneus says gladiolus was planted on the graves of virgins. 



