Iridaceae FAMILY
Gladiolus zambesiacus
Gladiolus zambesiacus
Edibility
2/5
Medicinal
0/5
Safety & Hazards
None known
Cultivation Details
HabitBulb
Growth—
A plant of higher elevations in the moderately dry tropics, growing in areas with a fairly wet rainy season, then a very hot dry season[1].
Propagation
Seed -sow thinly in a pot and grow on without transplanting for the first year. Pot up the small bulbs when they are dormant[2]. Division. Young corms can be separated from the parent plant and should be planted out 12 cm deep, spaced at 12cm. Deep planting helps the plants stay upright[2]. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Gladiolus+zambesiacus>
Pollinators
Insects
References
- [1]Flora Zambesiaca — http://apps.kew.org/efloras/fz/intro.html ↩︎An excellent online flora of plants from the Zambezi River basin. It lists a number of the plant uses as well as the habitats and botanical descriptions of the plants.
- [2]Useful Plants of Kongo Central Province, Democratic Republic of Congo (Third Edition) — Paul Latham & Augustin Konda ku Mbuta · 2017 · ISBN 978-0-9554208-70 ↩︎An excellent publication, clear and precise by people who know their subject. Originally published in French, then translated into English and also made available in two parts in PDF format as a download from the internet.
- [3]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
- [4]A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. — Usher. G. · Constable · 1974 · ISBN 0094579202 ↩︎Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.
- [5]Plants for Human Consumption. — Kunkel. G. · Koeltz Scientific Books · 1984 · ISBN 3874292169 ↩︎An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of Latin names with a brief list of edible parts.