Tuesday 19 February 2013

GLADIOLUS

Gladiolus (from Latin, "little sword", the diminutive of gladius, a sword) is a genus of perennial bulbous flowering plants in the iris family, Iridaceae. It is sometimes called the 'sword lily', but usually by its generic name (plural gladioli, gladioluses, glads). The genus is distributed in Mediterranean Europe, Asia, Tropical Africa and South Africa. The centre of diversity of the genus is located in the Cape Floristic Region, where most species were discovered. The genera Oenostachys, Homoglossum, Anomalesia and Acidanthera, traditionally considered independent entities, currently are included in Gladiolus.

There are 160 species of Gladiolus endemic in southern Africa and 76 in tropical Africa. The flowers of unmodified wild species vary from very small to perhaps 40 mm across, and inflorescences bearing anything from one to several flowers. The spectacular giant flower spikes in commerce are the products of centuries of hybridisation, selection, and perhaps more drastic manipulation.

This post is part of the Nature Footsteps Floral Macros meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme.

5 comments:

  1. interesting gladiolus, love the color visiting here from RT2

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  2. det är en fin blomma gillar den speciellt i vitt.
    Ha en fin kväll
    kram Meta

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  3. I lovethe way the light comes through the petals!!!

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  4. They're beautiful. I love the colour.

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  5. they are so beautiful. They were favourite flowes of my uncle.

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