Gladiolus ecklonii densely flowered spike

Gladiolus ecklonii may have from 8 to 12 flowers in a spike, when all goes super well in rare seasons, up to 26. There are green outer bracts around the tepals.

Several other colours are more common than this pink one. The outer three tepals are bigger than those of the inner whorl. The flowers are not scented, colour rather than fragrance attracts the pollinators that work by day.

The yellow nectar guides in the throat on the lower tepals are triangular to spear-shaped, differing in width (Goldblatt and Manning, 1998; iNaturalist; www.pacificbulbsociety.org).