Gladiolus speciosus

Gladiolus speciosus, in Afrikaans known as the bont kalkoentjie (little multicoloured turkey) or just kalkoentjie and previously scientifically as G. alatus var. speciosus, is a short geophyte growing from a depressed to globose corm in soft, papery tunics. Small corms are produced on long stolons around the main one in vegetative reproduction.

The stem is winged, the three to six leaves stiff and usually longitudinally ridged. Most of them are basal, the few on the stems progressively shorter.

The species distribution is mainly in the western part of the Western Cape, slightly spilling over into the Northern Cape around Nieuwoudtville.

The plant grows in deep sandy soil on flats, slopes and plateaus. The habitat population is deemed of least concern early in the twenty first century (Manning, 2007; Goldblatt and Manning, 1998; iNaturalist; www.pacificbulbsociety.org; http://redlist.sanbi.org).