Gladiolus martleyi

Native to South Africa, growing on sandy and rocky flats and lower slopes, Gladiolus martleyi is a cormous geophyte with a depressed-globose corm and papery tunics. The 20–35 cm flowering stem is leafless; its one or two thread-like, terete leaves appear only after flowering. From February to May (late summer to autumn in the Southern Hemisphere), it bears a loose spike of 3 to 11 fragrant pink flowers, the lower tepals marked with red on a pale ground. It requires full sun, well-drained soil, and dry summer dormancy.