Aloes and Lilies of Ethiopia and Eritrea

244 IRIDACEAE
15. Flower more than 45 mm long 8. G. pauciflorus
- Flower 36–42 mm long 16
16. Perianth white, lower lateral tepals with yellow to greenish transverse
blotches; erect plant of open grassland or light woodland 1. G. balensis
- Perianth pink, lower tepals evidently without markings; plant of rock
outcrops and cliffs, usually hanging downward 14. G. lithicola
Gladiolus balensis
Description
Fig. 109.
Gladiolus
balensis, from
near Ginir, Bale
floristic region.
1. Gladiolus balensis Goldblatt
The specific epithet ‘balensis’ refers to the floristic region
where the original collection was made, Bale. The species
was described by Goldblatt in 1996 from plants collected
near Ginir by Gilbert, Ensermu K., and Vollesen.
The species is easily distinguished from other
indigenous species by the slender habit and white flowers
with usually pink marks in the upper lateral tepals and
yellowish in the lower ones.
Plant 50–60 cm high. Corm 18–22 mm in diameter. Foliage leaves
3, only lower most basal, this longer, upper 2 leaves inserted above
ground level and shorter than the basal, blades narrowly lanceolate
to linear. Stem erect, unbranched, 2–3 mm in diameter at the base
of the spike. Spike 5–9-flowered, straight and erect. Flowers white,
usually pink in midline of upper lateral tepals and flushed pink on
fading; perianth tube 18–20 mm long, expanded in upper 5 mm;
tepals unequal, dorsal longer and arched over stamens, broadly
lanceolate, c. 22 × 15 mm, upper laterals slightly smaller, lower 3
tepals c. 24 mm long, lower laterals 6–7 mm wide, lower median c.
10 mm wide. Filaments c. 14 mm long, exserted 4–5 mm from the
tube. Style dividing just beyond anther apices, branches extending
well past anthers, 3–4 mm long. Capsules and seeds unknown.