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Gladiolus italicus
Also called Common Sword Lily, Cornfield Gladiolus, Field Gladiolus, Cornflag, Corn Fflag Gladiolus
Gladiolus italicus is a tuberous perennial weed of fields and waste ground, native to the Mediterranean, North Africa and western Asia, grown as a wildflower or cut flower. Its key trait is its tuberous corm and sun-loving, fast-spreading habit.
Gladiolus italicus is a species of gladiolus known by the common names Italian gladiolus, field gladiolus, and common sword-lily.
Native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, it is well known on other continents where it is a common weed, particularly of cultivated fields and waste places. This perennial flower grows an erect stem approaching a meter in maximum height with a few long leaves around its base. Toward the top half of the generally unbranching stem is a spike inflorescence on which flowers appear at intervals. Each plant has up to 15 or 16 flowers. The flower is bright pink to magenta and several centimeters long with its stamens and style protruding from the throat. The fruit is a capsule about a centimeter long containing many seeds.
Gladiolus × byzantinus · Cornflag · Dragon's Head Lily · Acidanthera · Gladioli
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Gladiolus italicus by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
