A walk in Steenbok with Ingrid Meter

Gladiolus dalenii  

Common names:  African gladiolus (Eng.); papegaai-gladiolus (Afr.); khahla-e-kholo (South Sotho)
Family:  Iridaceae

Take a walk along the high tide path to Kingfisher Creek to see these stunning beauties, flowering in May, even though their normal flowering time is October – January.  The flowers are crimson red with yellow lower petals.  Gladiolus Dalenii always have several flowers in a spike, all facing to one side – in this instance, the flowers are all facing towards the estuary.  The leaves are sword-shaped, in a loose fan.  Height between 70 – 100 cm.

Not indigenous to the Garden Route but naturally found from the Eastern Cape through to West Africa.

What a delight to see the cluster of them on the left as you approach the entrance to Kingfisher Creek.