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Common Name:

General Information

Gladiolus dalenii is a Corm up to 1.50 metres tall.
It is harvested from the wild for local use as a food.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

S. Africa.

Habitat

Grassy places and open woods at elevations to 2,000 metres in Natal[]. Regions with summer rainfall[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Habit	Corm
Height	1.50 m
Pollinators	Insects
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Prefers a sunny sheltered position in a light sandy neutral to slightly acid soil with a pH between 6.5 and 7[, ]. Requires a stony gritty loam.
This species is not very cold-hardy, tolerating temperatures down to about 0°c[]. In Britain it may be possible to plant the corms out in spring, harvest them in the autumn and store them overwinter in a cool frost-free place.
This species is one of the parents of the cultivated garden gladiolas[].

Edible Uses

Flowers - raw or cooked. The anthers are removed and the flowers are added to salads or used as a boiled vegetable[].
Children suck the flowers for their copious quantities of nectar[].

Medicinal

None known

Other Uses

None known

Propagation

Seed - sow early spring in a greenhouse at 15°c[]. It usually germinates freely[]. The seed can also be sown as soon as it is ripe in the autumn in a warm greenhouse[]. Sow the seed thinly so that the seedlings can be grown on in the pot without disturbance for their first year, giving them an occasional liquid feed to ensure they do not become nutrient deficient. Pot up the small bulbs when they are dormant in the autumn, placing about 2 - 3 bulbs in each pot. Grow them on for another year or two in the greenhouse and then plant them out in late spring.
Division. Dig up the corms in early autumn, dry them in well ventilated conditions at about 20°c and then store them in a cool but frost-free place over the winter, planting them out about 10cm deep in mid spring[, ].
Cormlets harvested when digging up the corms in the autumn can be stored in a similar manner to the corms[]. Larger cormlets can be planted out in spring, smaller ones may be best grown on for a year in the greenhouse.