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Introduction
The name gladiolus derived from the Latin word, means a sword, on account of the sword like shape of the foliage given by Pliny the Elder (A.D. 23-79) The other name is 'sword lily 'Corn flag' is another common name in Europe because Gladiolus Illyricum is found wild as weed in the corn-fields Gladiolus primulinus is also known as 'waterfall gladiolus' as it was found growing near the Victoria Falls in the tropical forests of Africa It was introduced into cultivation towards the end of the 16th century in India, its cultivation dates back to nineteenth century
Uphof -consumed the corms of Gladiolus edulis by roasting in Bassa (Africa) G. quartinianus corms were used as food and as a cooking beverage The flowers of Gladiolus saundersii, G. ecklonii, G. papilio, G. cruentus and G. natalensis are used as salad after nipping off the anthers
It was found that the corms contained high amount of carbohydrates mostly as starch
(65.4 to 78.61%) and protein (12.6 to 18.5%) Gladiolus crassifolius is used for headache and lumbago (the whole plant is crushed,
Gladiolus aethiopian was described first by Comutrs, is from Cape region bearing light
red-scarlet flowers
Around the middle of the 18th century the first South African species were introduced. Gladiolus tristis, a sweet-scented species closely related to G. grandis, was first
introduced to UK in 1745
Gladiolus illyricus native to Mediterranean region was later on found growing in England. Gladiolus grandis from South Africa was naturalized in Spain
Taxonomy
Botanical name Gladiolus L. Family Iridaceae n=15 Lewis et al. (1972) divided the genus Gladiolus into four groups Section I: Eugladiolus - 100 species of Europe, Western Asia, Tropical and South Africa Section II: Habea -12 species of South Africa (Cape Peninsula) and Madagascar Section III: Schweiggeria -2 species from Cape Section IV: Homoglossum -five or six species of South Africa
Plurifoliati
It contains 22 species, having 5-8 or more well developed leaves, Distichously(growing in rows) arranged, forming a fan Ex: Gladiolus cardinalis (Cape), G. sempervirens (Cape), G. cruentus (Natal and Lesotho), G. saundersii (Natal and Lesotho) having red or scarlet colour flower and G. oppositiflorus (Cape) with flowers white or pink.in colour
Paucifoliati
It contains 34 species, having 2-5 well developed leaves, distichously or spirally arranged, Examples Gladiolus stellatus (Cape) with fragrant, whitish to pale mauve
Unifoliati
It contains 29 speicies, having one well developed basal leaf, the following reduced, bract like with short blades, spirally arranged on the scapes Gladiolus brevitubus (Cape) with pale pink or red color G. quadrangulus (Cape) wth fragrant, white to pale blue or pinkish mauve G. citrinus (Cape) with bright yellow G. tenellus (Cape) with fragrant, yellow, cream or white tinged purple G. oreocharis (Cape) with white to mauve G. inflatus (Cape) with pale, pink or mauve G. robertsoniae (Transvaal) with fragrant, mauve or white tinged pale mauve
Exfoliati
It contains 24 species, absence of developed leaves (or leaf) at the time of flowering, the scape bearing 1-3 (or 4) sheathing bracts without or with small free blades. Examples
G. carneus
G. abreviatus
G. alatus
G. appendiculatus
G. bullatus
G. carinatus
G. crassifolius
G. cunonius
G. dalenii
G. debilis
G. gracilis
G. liliaceus
G. hirsutus
G. hirsutus
G. macneilii
G. papilio
G. patersoniae
G. permeabilis
G. scabridus
G. teretifolius
G. teretifolius
G. teretifolius
G. trichonemifolius
G. bullatus
G. trichonemifolius
G. tristis
G. watsonius
G. tristis
G. vigilans
G. accuminatus
G. rogersii
G. carneus
G. gueinzil
G. leptosiphon
G. stellatus
Classification
It lacks universal synchrony for its classification because the Europeans, New Zealanders (also follow Australian system) and Asians used to classify them on the size of the flowers, i.e., (i) Grandiflorus (large or exhibition type) height of 90 to 150 cm, strong and erect stalks, bearing 14 to 20 cm closely arranged, triangular and symmetrical flowers, coming up late in the season (ii) Primulinus which is free flowering and daintier than the grandiflorus, growing to a height of one metre, bearing flowers 5 to 10 cm across with mostly hooded florets of soft colours, blooming generally in the mid-season
Butterflies which are up to 1.25 meter, bearing medium-sized flowers spaced closely and marked with attractive blotches and throat markings Miniature growing to a height of 75 to 90 cm, with flowers 5 to 7.5 cm across, similar in arrangements to the prims but frequently ruffled and flowering early.
The Australians classify these into formals, informal, intermediates and miniatures.
American system of classification is universal in application which is now being used everywhere as it is more scientific and comprehensive
This is based on 3-digit system which originated in 1940's. First digit (from 1 to 5) represents floral size, second (0 to 9) the basic hue or colour and third (0 to 9) the depth of colour. The For example, '498 Brown Orchid' Baxter: 64 means the cultivar Brown Orchid was bred by Baxter, released in 1964 and is of large size (11.4 to 14.0 cm floret size) which has inconspicuous deep smoky coloring of the flowers, mostly towards the brown type.
Floret size (cm) <6.4 > 6.4 to 8.9 > 8.9 to 11.4 > 11.4 to 14.0 > 14.0
Cultivars
In different literatures about 30000 cultivars may be traced out. Some good cultivars according to flower colour are,
White: Althena, Bush Balland, Cotton Blossom, Dream Girl, Eastern Star, Gambier
Pearl, Icicle, Jennifer, Lipstick, Lunar Moth, Marjorie Ann, Melissa, Mighty Mite, Moon Frost, Morning Bride, Simplicity, Snowdrop, Snow Dust, Super StarWhite, Enchantress,
Green: Armstrong, Green Bay, Green Bird, Green Giant, Green Woodpecker, Green
Willow, Emerald Isle, Forest Glade, Lemon Lime, Mint Julip, Oasis, etc.
Cream: Ariette, Bonnie, Classmate, Cream Topper, Crinkled Wrinkles, Dairy Queen, Dew Drop, Lady Bountiful, Landmark, Pale Moon
Buff: Adventure, Apricot Delight, Apricot Lustre, Bit O'Honey, Fashin, Happy Birthday,
Honeycomb, Illuminator, Mikado, Novelette, Perky, Royal Buff
Orange: Autumn Glow, Coral Seas, Fiesta, Fox fire, Gypsy Dancer, Orange Beauty,
Orange Chiffon, Setting Sun, Tangerine, etc
Salmon: Atom, Big Daddy, Brigadier Cliffie, Frilled Champion, Goliath, Heritage,
Parade, Memento, Salmon Queen, Sister Fortuna
Violet: Angel Eyes, Blue Bird, Blue Isle, Blue Hawaii, Blue Mist, Blue Ruffles, China
Blue, Delphine, Eternal City, Her Majesty, Linda Ruth, Province, Tropic Seas, etc.
Tan: Hastings, Little Fawn, Table Talk, Tapestry Smoky: Autumn Charm, Autumn Sensation, Aztec Chief, Blue Smoke, Cosmic, Misty
Eyes, Misty Mom, Piccolo, etc.
Brown:: Autumn Sensation, Brown Beauty, Chocolate Chip, Chocolate Dip, Chocolette,
Mystic Glow, Little Tiger, etc.
Cultivars evolved in India: Apsara, Aarati, Mayur, Poonam, Mohini, Suchitra, etc
Correlation studies revealed that: spike length had a positive association with days to
shoot emergence, leaf breadth, florets per spike, rachis length, inter nodal length, size of floret and size and weight of corms
Number of spikes per corm, florets per spike and rachis length had high and positive direct
effects on spike length
Days to sprouting, plant height, leaves/plant, days to flowering and floret size was
Breeding Objectives
1. Plant height 2.Stem types such as slenderness and flexibility to high wind 3. Spike length 4. Bud counts and compactness 5. Flower size and shape and fragrance
Methods of breeding
Introduction and Selection, Hybridization & Mutation Breeding Introduction and selection: Some of the exotic varieties were introduced at different
Sister Eliz Fenny Lind , 'Florence Nightingale', 'Gold Dust', 'Hawaii', 'Hill Crest', 'Kenny',
'King Lear', la Paloma', 'Oklahoma', `Psittacinus hybrid'
'Apple Blossom', 'George Mazure', `Goeff Whiteman', `Jo Wagenaar', 'Patricia', `Pfitzer's
Sensation, 'Snow Princess At Regional Station, Shimla 'Apple Blossom', 'Australian Fair', 'Blue Lilac', 'Camellia', 'Debonair', 'Fred Tucker', 'Friendship', 'George Mazure', 'Geliber Herald', `Goeff Whiteman', 'Green Woodpecker', 'G.S. Porter', `Jo Wagenaar', 'Lady Killer', 'Life Flame', 'Lincoln's Day', 'Old Gold', 'Oscar', 'Pactolus', 'Patricia', 'Prof. Goudrin', 'Rose Spire', 'Sam Smith', 'Scheherzade', 'Snow Princess', 'Stormy Weather', 'Sylvia', 'Thunderbird', 'Vink's Glory' and 'Winter Gladioli' and four miniature varieties like 'Canberra', 'Jolly Jocker', Psittacinus hybrid' and 'Red Canna
Hybridization
Its being hermaphrodite-male& female organs in the same flower The desired combinations are made by choosing either of the parents as male or female.
Flowers start opening after the sunset & open fully in the morning with a few exceptions,
e.g., cv. setting Sun which normally opens by 11.00 am, in cloudy days, it opens even by evening
The dehiscence of anthers occurs between 8.00 and 9.30 am following anthesis. Stigma
receptivity stayed for 24 hours
Certain species - nyctinastic movements, as Gladiolus floribundus closes its segments at night, whereas G. tristis opens fully in the evening
Emasculation is carried out at bud stage when these have started swelling for opening.
After pollination, the flowers are bagged with perforated butter paper bags and tagged
with labels mentioning the parents and the date of pollination Capsules mature generally within four to six weeks of pollination
When capsule start dehiscing are collected, sun-dried, sometimes de winged and stored
in moisture-proof envelopes until sowing
Achievements
A large number of hybrids were raised at the IIHR, Bangalore
These hybrids were evaluated thoroughly for various vegetative and floral characteristics for 2-3 seasons Based on the performance in the replicated trials, six hybrids released as `Meera', `Nazrana', 'Poonam' and `Sapna, `Aarti' and 'Apsara'
Others are Mridula, Mukta, Pitambar, Priyadarshini , Sada Bahar, Sanyukta, Smita, Triloki
Mutation breeding
Many cultivars are available in commerce by spontaneous mutation and only a few through induced ones Two such sports (spontaneous) have been reported in the cvs. Salman's Sensation and Ratna's Butterfly. Shobha' (Mutant of cv. 'Wild Rose') Yellow Picardy Misra treated the corms of the varieties Jo Wagenaar', 'Oscar' and 'Picardy' with 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 kR of gamma rays A number of variations such as bi coloration of petals, increase in the number of floral parts, formation of twin flowers, russetting of florets, leaf variegation and deformities, stem branching, plant stunting etc. were observed