Gladiolus gregarius

Welw. ex Baker

IridaceaeRoots

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(c) Marco Schmidt, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA)

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(c) Jed Bird, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

What to Eat

Edible parts: Corms, Root

The starchy corms are eaten as a traditional food source.

Where to Find It

A tropical plant. It grows in moist savannah.

Africa, Angola, Burkina Faso, Central Africa, Congo, East Africa, Ghana, Guinea, Guinée, Guinea-Bissau, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Southern Africa, Tanzania, West Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe,

Countries: Angola, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Benin, Botswana, Congo (DRC), Central African Republic, Congo (Republic), Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Djibouti, Algeria, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Gambia, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Comoros, Liberia, Lesotho, Libya, Morocco, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Somalia, South Sudan, Sao Tome & Principe, Eswatini, Chad, Togo, Tunisia, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe

How to Identify

A slender herb. It keeps growing from year to year. It grows 30-80 cm tall. The corm is fibrous. It is 2-3 cm across. There are 4-7 leaves at the base. The leaves on the stem are shorter. The flower spike has 8-20 flowers. They are green. There are overlapping flower bracts along the stem. The fruit is a narrow capsule 12-15 mm long.

How to Grow

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. 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.

Medicinal Uses

The corm, when dried and powdered, is used as an emetic to counter poisoning.

Notes

There are about 150-300 Gladiolus species.

Names & Synonyms

Antholyza descampsii De Wild.Antholyza gilletii De Wild.Gladiolus corbisieri De Wild.Gladiolus elegans VaupelGladiolus hanningtonii BakerGladiolus karendensis BakerGladiolus klattianus Hutch.Gladiolus multiflorus Welw. ex BakerGladiolus pseudogregarius Mildbr. ex Hutch.Gladiolus spicatus KlattGladiolus uhehensis Harms

References (9)

Abbiw, D.K., 1990, Useful Plants of Ghana. West African uses of wild and cultivated plants. Intermediate Technology Publications and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. p 31 (Also as Gladiolus klattianus)
Burkill, H. M., 1985, The useful plants of west tropical Africa, Vol. 2. Kew.
Dalziel, J. M., 1937, The Useful plants of west tropical Africa. Crown Agents for the Colonies London. (As Gladiolus klattianus)
Grivetti, L. E., 1980, Agricultural development: present and potential role of edible wild plants. Part 2: Sub-Saharan Africa, Report to the Department of State Agency for International Development. p 24
J. Hutchinson & J. M. Dalziel, Fl. W. trop. Afr. 2:379. 1936 (As Gladiolus klattianus)
Jardin, C., 1970, List of Foods Used In Africa, FAO Nutrition Information Document Series No 2.p 16 (As Gladiolus klattianus)
Peters, C. R., O'Brien, E. M., and Drummond, R.B., 1992, Edible Wild plants of Sub-saharan Africa. Kew. p 33 (As Gladiolus klattianus)
Trans. Linn. Soc. London, Bot. ser. 2, 1:268. 1878
World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew