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FLOWER OF THE MONTH
AUGUST - GLADIOLUS
FLOWER OF THE MONTH
AUGUST - GLADIOLUS
The August flower is the Gladiolus.
Glads, as they are often called, are native to tropical and South Africa and are any plant of the genus Gladiolus. The plant has sword-shaped leaves with one-sided spikes of funnel-shaped, bright flowers.
Discovered in South Africa in the 17th and 18th centuries, the gladiolus was used as a food. In ancient Rome, gladiator battles were fought ‘to the death or gladioli’ where the victor was buried under gladioli by cheering crowds in celebration for winning the fight.
It was from this history that the glad has also become known as the ‘sword lily’ and referred to as the flower of the Roman gladiators. The meaning attached to the flower is that of moral character.
The name for the flower is from the Latin word ‘gladius’ which means sword, a reference to the shape of the plant leaves.
The earliest written reference to the glad is in The Bible in the Book of Matthew (6:28) which states, “And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin.”
Hybridization and experimentation started around 1800 in Britain with the earliest known Africa gladiolus grown in Europe dating back to 1680.
Europeans were aware of this flower for centuries as an inhabitant of fields where corn grew around the Mediterranean Sea.
Europe received the first South African species of gladiolus between 1739 and 1745. They were delivered by Dutch and English ships that stopped in Cape Town for supplies and water.