Gladiolus debilis flower

The unscented flowers of Gladiolus debilis, the little painted lady, are white, sometimes pale pink with arrow-shaped and other red markings on the three lower tepals. Up to three flowers may be borne in the inflorescence, an inclined spike. The perianth tubes are cylindrical and only slightly curved as they expand, the tepals unequal with the dorsal one biggest.

The flower style with its pink or white three-branched stigma grows longer than the stamens on their red or partly red filaments.

The plant is pollinated by long-tongued flies. It blooms from early spring to after midspring, more abundantly during the first few seasons after a veld fire (Manning, 2007; Bean and Johns, 2005; Goldblatt and Manning, 1998; iNaturalist; www.pacificbulbsociety.org).