have met with favor among gardeners and have given rise 

 to the modern varieties, these belonging principally to three 

 groups. The Dragon's Head group, so called because of the 

 shape of the flowers, include Gladiolus dracocephalus, G. 

 primulinus, and G. psittacinus. The other two important 

 groups of this region may be termed the Small-Flowered forms. 

 These have relatively small blossoms and conferred upon 

 our modern sorts a tendency to long spikes with many blooms 

 open at once. The opposite-flowered Glodiolus oppositiflorus 

 of the group called the Blandi, the lavender G. Papilio, 

 and the yellow G. purpureo-auratus of the Parviflorus group, 

 were the principal ones used in hybridizing, but appear 

 no longer to be obtainable in cultivation. Besides these South 

 African groups which I have mentioned and which include 

 about 200 species there are nearly a score of Eurasians species 

 which are relatively hardy and of interest for outdoor bedding. 

 They have small flowers and in general the colors are not 

 attractive. 



Of this complex assortment of species only about a dozen 

 have been concerned in the development of our garden var- 

 ieties. The first hybrids of importance were the so-called 

 Gandavensis strain which originated about 1840. These 

 were hybrids derived principally from the wild species, 

 the Parrot Gladiolus, the Opposite-Flowered Gladiolus, and 

 Gladiolus floribundus. These three belong, the first, to the 

 Dragon's Head, and the last two to the Blandus group, thus 

 showing that the widely different forms of Gladiolus are 

 easily intercrossed. The resulting hybrids produce long spikes 

 of bright-colored, medium-sized flowers and were deservedly 

 popular for nearly half a century up until 1890. The first 

 radical departure from these Gandavensis sorts were the 

 Lemoine hybrids produced by crossing these earlier sort? 

 with another species, a purple spotted Gladiolus. This lattei 

 was a pale yellow flower with velvety purple throat blotch, 

 striking markings, slender habits, and winter hardiness. 

 These Lemoine or Butterfly Gladiolus as they were called 

 were particularly popular in France and several of their 

 descendants such as Elizabeth Tabor, La Couronne, Dawn, 

 Mrs. Frank Pendleton, and La Luna, are still very popular 

 garden varieties. Early in the development of these, Victor 



