Plate 63. 



GLADIOLUS alatus, var. namaquensis. 



Cape Province. 



Ieidaceae. Tribe Ixieae. 

 Gladiolus, Linn. ; Benth. et Hook.f. Gen. Plant, vol. iii. p. 709. 



Gladiolus alatus, var. namaquensis, Baker in Fl. Cap. vol. vi. p. 159 ; 

 0. namaquensis, Ker. in BoL Mag. t. 592. 



This plant is a variety of the Cape " Kalkoentje " (Gladiolus 

 alatus), and might conveniently be called the " Namaqua 

 Kalkoentje." This particular variety has been known for 

 almost 200 years, and in the Banksian Herbarium in the 

 British Museum is a well-preserved specimen which was 

 collected by Masson in Namaqualand. A figure of the plant 

 prepared from specimens which flowered in England was 

 published in the Botanical Magazine in 1801. 



In the veld groups of plants are usually found together, 

 each forming a corm which has developed as an offshoot from 

 the parent corm. This character would render the plant easy 

 of propagation. 



We are indebted to Mrs. E. Eood of van Ehynsdorp for 

 specimens which were received by the Division of Botany in 

 September, 1921. They are preserved in the National 

 Herbarium, Pretoria (Herb. No. 1468). 



Description : — Corm covered with fibrous tunics. Stem 

 with a basal sheath 2-5-3"5 cm. long. Leaves four, decreasing 

 in size upwards ; the outermost leaf 13-15 cm. long, 2*5-3 cm. 

 broad ; upper leaves 7-12 cm. long, -5-2-1 cm. broad, all 

 lanceolate, acuminate, clasping and equitant at the base, 

 5-nerved, with reddish margins ; the innermost almost wholly 

 clasping. Visible peduncle about 11 cm. long, 3-flowered. 

 Outer-bracts 4 cm. long, 2 cm. broad, boat-shaped, acuminate, 

 sharply keeled, with keel and margins reddish-brown ; inner 

 similar to the outer but bifid at the apex. Perianth-tube 1 cm. 

 long, cylindric below, campanulate above ; upper segments 



