Gladiolus caryophyllaceus

Gladiolus caryophyllaceus, commonly known as the pink afrikaner or in Afrikaans as the sandpypie (little sand pipe), is a robust, cormous perennial reaching heights from 18 cm to 110 cm.

The four or five sword-shaped leaves are hairy with thickened margins, midribs and secondary veins. Up to three of them grow from the ground, the other two shorter ones sheathe the stem. The leaves are up to 2,5 cm wide. Leaf margins are sometimes crisped, sometimes tinged red, pink or purple.

The species distribution is in the Western Cape from southern Namaqualand on the west coast to Malmesbury and somewhat further inland. This plant was photographed in August near Clanwilliam. 

The habitat is sandstone flats, slopes and plateaus. The habitat population is deemed of least concern early on the twenty first century.

This plant is naturalised in Western Australia where methods of controlling its invasive spread have been devised (Manning, 2009; Goldblatt and Manning, 1998; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).