Gladiolus saccatus leaves

The five to seven annual leaves of Gladiolus saccatus are linear to lanceolate, flat and narrow, about 30 cm long and up to 1,5 cm wide. The basal three leaves are longer, reaching about a third up the stem, seldom to the base of the inflorescence.

In picture blue-green to grey-green, the smooth leaves are prominently three-ribbed without thickened margins. They are mottled white and purple near the base. The upper two to four grow up the stem, diverging from it with little or no sheathing and channelled in their upper parts (Manning, 2009; Goldblatt, et al, 1998).