Gladiolus italicus
Mill.
Common sword-lily
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What to Eat
Edible parts: Corms, Root, Flower nectar
The corms are added to ice cream and other dairy products. The flower nectar and roots are also edible.
Where to Find It
It is a Mediterranean climate plant.
Afghanistan, Africa, Asia, Canary Islands, Central Asia, Egypt, Europe, Iran, Italy, Mediterranean, Middle East, North Africa, Pakistan, Sicily, Slovenia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Türkiye,
How to Identify
A corm plant. It grows 50-100 cm tall. The flowers are on stems up to 1 m tall. There can be 15 or 16 flowers. The fruit is a capsule 1 cm long with many seeds.
Wikipedia
Source ↗Gladiolus italicus is a species of gladiolus known by the common names Italian gladiolus, field gladiolus, and common sword-lily. It is native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, but it is well known on other continents where it is a common weed, particularly of cultivated fields and waste places. This perennial flower grows an erect stem approaching a meter in maximum height with a few long leaves around its base. Toward the top half of the generally unbranching stem is a spike inflorescence on which flowers appear at intervals. Each plant has up to 15 or 16 flowers. The flower is bright pink to magenta and several centimeters long with its stamens and style protruding from the throat. The fruit is a capsule about a centimeter long containing many seeds.
Names & Synonyms
Kilicotu, Laški meček, Salepotu, Spatuliddra
References (7)
- Ertug, F, Yenen Bitkiler. Resimli Türkiye Florası -I- Flora of Turkey - Ethnobotany supplement
- Facciola, S., 1998, Cornucopia 2: a Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications, p 122
- Flora of Pakistan. www.eFloras.org
- Gard. dict. ed. 8: Gladiolus no. 2. 1768
- Geraci, A., et al, 2018, The wild taxa utilized as vegetables in Sicily (Italy): a traditional component of the Mediterranean diet. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine (2018) 14:14
- Licata, M., et al, 2016, A survey of wild plant species for food use in Sicily (Italy) – results of a 3-year study in four Regional Parks. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 12:12
- Pasta, S., et al, 2020, An Updated Checklist of the Sicilian Native Edible Plants: Preserving the Traditional Ecological Knowledge of Century-Old Agro-Pastoral Landscapes. Frontiers in Plant Science. Volume 11|Article 388
