Aloes and Lilies of Ethiopia and Eritrea

246 IRIDACEAE
Habitat and
distribution
Gladiolus mensensis
Description
Habitat and
distribution
25–28 × 10­12 mm, lower 3 tepals 25–27 × 8–10 mm. Filaments
8–10 mm long, exserted 4–5 mm from tube. Style dividing near
anther apices, or sometimes beyond them, branches 4–5 mm long,
spreading beyond anthers. Capsules and seeds unknown.
It grows on open flat grassland, sometimes waterlogged
in the rainy season between 1500 and 1700 m in Sidamo
floristic region, southern Ethiopia. It is not known
anywhere else. The main flowering period is from May
to June.
3. Gladiolus mensensis (Schweinf.) Goldblatt
The specific epithet ‘mensensis’ refers to the locality
where the original collection was made, Mensa. The
species was described by Schweinfurth in 1894 as Trito
nia mensensis from plants collected in Eritrea by
Schwein furth. The name was later transferred to the
genus Gladiolus in 1996 by Goldblatt.
The species is distinguished from the similar species,
G. calcicola by its comparatively longer perianth tube (c.
15 mm long) in contrast to the shorter (c. 12 mm long)
in G. calcicola.
Plant 25–50(–80) cm high. Corm 12–14 mm in diameter. Foliage
leaves 4–5, lower 2–3 more or less basal, seldom reaching beyond
middle of spike, blades linear, 2–4 mm wide, upper 2 or 3 leaves
much shorter than basal and largely to entirely sheathing. Stem
erect, unbranched, c. 2 mm in diameter at base of spike. Spike
4–7-flowered, erect. Flowers pink or white; perianth tube c. 15
mm long, obliquely funnel­shaped; tepals more or less equal,
possibly dorsal slightly larger, 18–20 mm long, c. 8 mm wide, their
orientation uncertain. Filaments 9–12 mm long, exserted 4–5 mm
from tube. Style arched over stamens, dividing just beyond anther
apices, branches c. 2.5 mm long. Capsules obovoid ellipsoid, c. 13
mm long.
It grows on rocky grassland at c. 2200 m near Gheleb
in Eritrea. It is not known anywhere else. The main
flowering period is in April.
This is a poorly known species and additional
collections are needed.