''Gladiolus murielae'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Iridaceae Iridaceae is a family of plants in order Asparagales, taking its name from the irises, meaning rainbow, referring to its many colours. There are 66 accepted genera with a total of c. 2244 species worldwide (Christenhusz & Byng 2016). It include ...

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

to eastern Africa, from Ethiopia to Malawi. It has been given a number of English names, including Abyssinian gladiolus and fragrant gladiolus. It was formerly placed in the genus ''Acidanthera''. It is a

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 ' ...

ous

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

growing to tall, with linear leaves and in late summer, numerous fragrant white flowers with a maroon (occasionally orange) blotch in the throat, on slender nodding stems. Widely cultivated, it is a common subject in western and southern European gardens, where the

s are lifted every year and stored in frost-free conditions. This plant has gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nort ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established annual award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. History The Award of Garden Merit ...

. Hardiness: Zones 7–10 (6b with deep planting and mulching)

Taxonomy

The species was first described as ''Acidanthera bicolor'' by Christian Hochstetter in 1844. In 1973,

Wessel Marais Wessel Marais B.Sc., M.Sc. (1929-2013) was a South African botanist and plant collector. Wessel was born in Colesberg, Northern Cape Province, on 28 December 1929, the youngest of the ten children of Barend Pieter Marais, the last blacksmith an ...

included the genus ''Acidanthera'' in ''Gladiolus''. As the name ''Gladiolus bicolor'' had already been published by

John Gilbert Baker John Gilbert Baker (13 January 1834 – 16 August 1920) was an English botanist. His son was the botanist Edmund Gilbert Baker (1864–1949). Biography Baker was born in Guisborough in North Yorkshire, the son of John and Mary (née Gilber ...

in 1877 for a different species of ''Gladiolus'', Marais needed another name. He chose to call the species ''Gladiolus callianthus''. Marais was apparently unaware that

James Kelway James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

had already published the name ''Gladiolus murielae'' in 1932, so that the name "''G. callianthus''" was superfluous. The epithet ''murielae'' honours Muriel Erskine; her husband had collected in Ethiopia the specimen on which Kelway based the name. The species is often still offered for sale under the name ''Acidanthera bicolor'', sometimes with ''murielae'' added as an

infraspecific name In botany, an infraspecific name is the scientific name for any taxon below the rank of species, i.e. an infraspecific taxon or infraspecies. (A "taxon", plural "taxa", is a group of organisms to be given a particular name.) The scientific names ...

, or even as the

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...

name 'Murielae'.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q319791 murielae Flora of Ethiopia Plants described in 1844