''Gladiolus'' × ''colvillii'', the scarlet gladiolus, is a

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two diff ...

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 ...

cultigen A cultigen (), or cultivated plant, is a plant that has been deliberately altered or selected by humans, by means of genetic modification, graft-chimaeras, plant breeding, or wild or cultivated plant selection. These plants have commercial val ...

. The original ''Gladiolus'' × ''colvillii'' was bred by the nurseryman James Colville of

Chelsea, London Chelsea is an area in West London, England, due south-west of Kilometre zero#Great Britain, Charing Cross by approximately . It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the SW postcode area, south-western p ...

from the southern

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

n species ''G. tristis'' and ''G. cardinalis'' and first described in 1823; it is still cultivated. It has deep pink flowers with a cream stripe on each of the lower three

tepal A tepal is one of the outer parts of a flower (collectively the perianth). The term is used when these parts cannot easily be classified as either sepals or petals. This may be because the parts of the perianth are undifferentiated (i.e. of very ...

s. In 1826 James Colville put on sale a white form with pale pink

anther The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

s known as ''G. colvillii alba''. In 1871, a completely white

sport Sport is a physical activity or game, often Competition, competitive and organization, organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The numbe ...

with the same parentage was described: ''G. colvillii'' 'The Bride'. This cultivar is still available commercially today under the same name. The Colvillei group of ''Gladiolus'' now includes many small (to about 40 cm tall) spring-flowering cultivars with flowers from white to pink or orange-red. Some are likely to have other southern African species such as ''G. carneus'' in their ancestry.Cooke, D.A. (2005) in Spencer, R.D. ''Horticultural Flora of South-Eastern Australia'' vol. 5, p. 221

References

colvillii Plants described in 1823 Plant nothospecies {{Iridaceae-stub