Gladiolus italicus
Gladiolus italicus
Kılıçotu
Corm tunic coarsely reticulate-fibrous. Stem 25-70 cm. Leaves 4-5, lamina 8-12 mm broad, not glaucous, veins irregularly spaced. Spike lax, 6-12-flowered, distichous or weakly secund. Perianth pale pink, purplish red or magenta; tube slightly curved, posterior 10-12 mm, anterior 12-14 mm; upper median segment oblanceolate, rounded or mucronate, 26-30 x 8-10 mm; upper lateral shorter and narrower, 22-30 x 5-6 mm; lower segments linear-oblanceolate to spathulate, scarcely clawed, 20-32 x .5-6 mm. Anthers 12-16 mm, filaments 8-10 mm. Capsule obovoid, 1-1.5 cm; seeds triquetrous, 3-3.5 x 2-2.5 mm, reddish brown, unwinged. 2n = 120 . Fl. 2-6. Often a weed of cultivated and fallow fields , also found in disturbed areas, limestone slopes and escarpments, on basalt, sand dunes, s.l.-1650 m.
Mediterranean area, S.W. Asia eastwards to southern Turkestan, Arabia .
