''Gladiolus angustus'' is a species of

gladiolus ''Gladiolus'' (from Latin, the diminutive of ''gladius'', a sword) is a genus of perennial cormous flowering plants in the iris family (Iridaceae). It is sometimes called the 'sword lily', but is usually called by its generic name (plural ''g ...

known by the common name long-tubed painted lady. It is native to the

Cape Provinces The Cape Provinces of South Africa is a biogeographical area used in the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD). It is part of the WGSRPD region 27 Southern Africa. The area has the code "CPP". It includes the Sout ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. This flower is an herb growing from a papery

corm A corm, bulbo-tuber, or bulbotuber is a short, vertical, swollen underground plant stem that serves as a storage organ that some plants use to survive winter or other adverse conditions such as summer drought and heat (perennation). The word ' ...

and reaching 30 to 60 centimeters in height. It has basal sword-shaped leaves with prominent midveins. Each scape has two or three flowers with lance-shaped

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

s. The funnel-shaped flowers are white or cream, sometimes tinted with pink. The fruit often do not develop. This plant is native to South Africa but has become invasive elsewhere and naturalized in many places, especially Australia.

References

External links

''G. angustus'' in Western Australia
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5566296 angustus Flora of the Cape Provinces Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus