Gladiolus callianthus

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Peacock Flower

Peacock Flower

Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Liliopsida
Order:	Asparagales
Family:	Iridaceae
Subfamily:	Ixioideae
Tribe:	Ixieae
Genus:	Gladiolus
Species:	G. callianthus Marais

Binomial name

Gladiolus callianthus

Synonyms

Acidanthera bicolor

The Peacock Flower (Abyssinian gladiolus) is a gaudy tropical plant that is native to Madagascar. According to the International Plant Names Index (IPNI) it is a native of Abyssinia (Ethiopia). It has been widely planted in tropical regions and is cultivated in subtropical and temperate regions. It is a common garden flower in Western European gardens, where the bulbs are lifted and stored frost-free in the winter season because the species is not hardy there. The flowers are white with a scarlet patch, occasionally orange. Scientists often place this plant in the genus Acidanthera.

The species was first described as Acidanthera bicolor Hochst. (1844). When Acidanthera Hochst. (1844) is treated as a section of Gladiolus L. (1753) (Gladiolus sect. Acidanthera (Hochst.) Goldblatt (1996)), the correct name for the species is Gladiolus callianthus Marais (1973) as the name Gladiolus bicolor is no longer available, being published by Baker (1877) for another species of Gladiolus, from Southern Africa. Acidanthera bicolor Hochst. and Gladiolus callianthus Marais are thus both valid names for the same species, depending on the view whether Acidanthera should be treated as a genus in its own right or as a section of Gladiolus.