Aloes and Lilies of Ethiopia and Eritrea

Gladiolus gunnisii
Description
Habitat and
distribution
Gladiolus
longispathaceus
Description
ZYGOTRITONIA GLADIOLUS 253
The species was described by Rendle in 1898 as
Acidanthera gunnisii from a plant collected at Toghdeer,
top of Mt Wagga, in northern Somaila by Lort­Phil lips.
The name was later transferred to the genus Gladiolus by
Marais in 1973.
G. murielae, G. candidus and G. gunnisii are the only
three species in Ethiopia with perianth tube twice as long
as tepals. The latter is easily recognised by the white to
cream flower, included filaments and narrow grass-like
leaves.
Plant 25–35(­–45) cm high. Corm globose­conic, 11–14 mm in
diameter. Foliage leaves 3–5, lower 2–3 basal, a third as long as
stem, blades linear, 2–3(–4.5) mm wide, upper leaves cauline and
progressively shorter, sometimes uppermost entirely sheathing.
Stem unbranched. Spike (1–)2–3-flowered. Flowers white to pale
yellow, strongly fragrant; perianth tube slender, 80­120 mm long,
expanding in upper 10 mm; tepals evidently subequal, nearly
elliptic, dorsal probably horizontal, remaining tepals spreading,
25–30 mm long. Filaments c. 9 mm long, included in tube or barely
exserted for c. 1 mm. Style dividing c. 5 mm beyond anther apices,
branches c. 5 mm long. Capsules and seeds unknown.
It grows in mountaineous areas, in rocky habitats between
1500 and 2300 m in Bale and Sidamo floristic regions
in Ethiopia and in Eri trea. It also occurs in Somalia and
northern Kenya. The main flowering period in Ethiopia
is from May to June.
10. Gladiolus longispathaceus Cufodontis
The specific epithet ‘longispathaceus’ refers to the
inflorescence having long (lon gi­) spathes (-spathaceus).
The species was described by Cufodontis in 1969 from
a plant collected on Mt Dita in the Gamo Gofa floristic
region by Kuls.
The species is related to G. abyssinicus, but
distinguished by the flowers with the upper laterals about
as long as the dorsal tepal and by the larger bracts. In
contrast, G. abyssinicus has dorsal tepal twice as long as
the upper laterals and smaller bracts.
Plant (45–)60–90 cm high. Corm 15–30 mm in diameter. Foliage
leaves 5–6, lower 4–5 more or less basal and larger, upper 1–2
cauline and reduced, narrowly lanceolate to nearly linear, 7–15
mm at widest. Stem unbranched, 3–4 mm in diameter at base of
spike. Spike 8–12-flowered. Flowers bright red, lower 3 tepals