Common fennel , or common gladiolus ( Latin Gladíolus commúnis ) is a perennial herbaceous bulbous plant, a species of the genus Shpazhnik ( Gladiolus ) of the Iris family.
| Ordinary fennel |
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| Grade: | Monocotyledonous [1] |
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Gladiolus communis L. , 1753 |
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This is a perennial herb that reaches a height of 0.5 to 1 m. It forms tubers with a diameter of about 20 mm. The stem is unbranched. The leaves are alternate, arranged in two rows on the stem, from about 10 to 70 centimeters in length and from 0.5 to 2.2 cm wide; the edges are smooth.
Inflorescences contain from 10 to 20 flowers. Flower tube about 10-12 mm long. The flowers are reddish-purple with white stripes in the middle. The main flowering period is from June to July, partially it begins in May and lasts until October.
The fruit capsule is 18 to 24 mm long and contains many seeds. The wide winged seed has a diameter of 4 to 6 mm.
The species grows in the Mediterranean region (including Crimea), Iran and the Caucasus. The species was a common ornamental plant until the first half of the 19th century, but then it was replaced by garden gladiolus ( Gladiolus × hortulanus hybrids).