Kingdom Plantae Family Iridaceae Species G. colvillei Higher classification Gladiolus | Order Asparagales Genus Gladiolus Scientific name Gladiolus × colvillei Rank Hybrid | |
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Similar Gladiolus, Gladiolus tristis, Iridaceae, Gladiolus cardinalis, Gladiolus murielae | ||
Gladiolus × colvillei Sweet is a hybrid Gladiolus cultivar. Common name: Scarlet Gladiolus.
The original Gladiolus × colvillei was bred by the nurseryman James Colville of Chelsea, London from the southern African species G. tristis and G. cardinalis and first described in 1823; it is still cultivated. It has deep pink flowers with a cream stripe on each of the lower three tepals.
In 1826 James Colville put on sale a white form with pale pink anthers known as G. colvillei alba. In 1871, a completely white sport with the same parentage was described: G. colvillei 'The Bride'. This cultivar is still available commercially today under the same name.
The Colvillei group of Gladiolus now includes many small (to about 40 cm tall) spring-flowering cultivars with flowers from white to pink or orange-red. Some are likely to have other southern African species such as G. carneus in their ancestry.
