GLADIOLUS

also called Gladiola, plural Gladioli, Gladiolus, or Gladioluses, genus of about 300 species of flowering plants of the iris family (Iridaceae) native to Europe, Africa, and the Mediterranean area and widely cultivated for cut flowers. The flowering spike, which springs from a bulblike structure, the corm, reaches 6090 centimetres (23 feet) in height with numerous funnel-shaped flowers all clustered on one side of the stem. There are six petallike floral parts and sparse, swordlike leaves. Cultivated gladioli, which come in all colours, have been developed mostly from South and East African species. The fragrant, white G. tristis from South Africa is more delicate than the cultivated hybrids. Several species of gladiolus are native in Europe, including the magenta field gladiolus (G. segetum) that grows in grainfields.