Curtis Botanical - Plate 272 - Gladiolus tristis / Square-leaved Corn-flag

Original hand-colored antique botanical print from Curtis's Botanical Magazine - Plate 272, Gladiolus tristis (Square-leaved Corn-flag).

• Plate: 272
• Latin name: Gladiolus tristis
• Common name: Square-leaved Corn-flag
• Native region: Cape of Good Hope
• Flowering: April and May
• Flower colour: Sulphur
• Linnaean class / order: Triandria / Monogynia
• Medium: Original hand-colored engraving (physical print, not a reproduction)

Original Curtis text
Transcribed from the plate's accompanying description page:

[ 272 ]

GLADIOLUS TRISTIS. SQUARE-LEAVED CORN-FLAG.

. . .

Class and Order.
TRIANDRIA MONOGYNIA.

Generic Character.
Cor. 6-partita, ringens. Stamina adscendentia.

Specific Character and Synonyms.
GLADIOLUS tristis follis lineari-cruciatis, corollis campanulatis. Linn. Syst. Vegetab. ed. 14. Murr. p. 86. Ait. Kew. v. 1. p. 63. LILIO-GLADIOLUS bifolius et biflorus, foliis quadrangulis. Trew. Ehret. t. 39. GLADIOLUS tristis foliis linearibus fulcatis, caule bifloro, tubo longissimo, segmentis æqualibus. Mill. Dict. ed. 6. 4to. LINNÆUS gave to this species of Gladiolus the name of tristis, from the colour of its flowers, which however possesses scarcely sufficient of the sombre to justify the appellation; still less so if they vary in the manner represented in TREW's Ehret, where they are painted in gay and lively colours: in the specimens we have seen, the blossoms have been of a sulphur colour, shaded in particular parts with very fine pencillings, especially on the under side: most authors describe the flowering stems as producing only two flowers, LINNÆUS has observed that they sometimes produce many, we have seen them do so where the plant has grown in perfection; in their expansion, which usually takes place in April and May, they give forth a most agreeable fragrance.

It is a native of the Cape, and other parts of Africa; was cultivated by Mr. MILLER, and flowered in the Chelsea Garden in the year 1745. Ait. Kew. The leaves which so characteristically distinguish this species are highly deserving of notice, inflances of such rarely occur; as the bulbs produce numerous offsets, the plant is propagated by them without difficulty, and requires the same treatment as other Cape bulbs.

This print comes from our Curtis archive (via the Royal Horticultural Society and Wheldon & Wesley). Sold as an original historic plate - please review photos for condition.