Gladiolus
Introduction
It is perhaps wise to remember that, long before the Gladiolus become the vogue in European gardens, it was widely used in Africa, primarily for its medicinal properties which are now adopted by first world countries.
Recorded Medicinal uses:
Gladiolus
is an African medicinal plant recorded in the human pharmacopoeia.
Gladiolus
is recorded (under several of its synonyms) as being used in southern Africa in
treating a variety of ailments, including diarrhoea and colds. It is a common
component of the African herbalist's medicine horn, the "lenaka".
In
parts of West Africa, Gladiolus
is used in preparations to cure both constipation and severe dysentery. At least
in West Africa there are records that
G.
dalenii
is
cultivated on farms in the forest, where it was introduced from the savannah
country to the north.
Corms (bulblike underground stem) of G. dalenii are also used as food in southern Congo (Zaire). The starchy corms are boiled and then leached in water before consumption.
The
corm of Gladiolus edulis Burch. is edible.
The Tswana eat the corm and small animals are recorded as eating it as
well. The baboon being one of the animals that often dig the corm and eat
it.
The
southern Sotho use
Gladiolus
Dieterlenii Phillips
with other
plants as an enema as a remedy for lumbago and headaches. A decoction of the
corm of
Gladiolus
ecklonii Lehm.
is taken for the relief of rheumatic pains.
The
Zulu make a medicine, to facilitate the birth of the placenta,
from the corm of
Gladiolus
ludwigii Pappe
and administer a decoction of the corm as an enema to relieve dysmenorrhoea
(painful menstruation). The corm is used in southern Africa as a remedy for
impotency.
The
Swati use a decoction of the corm of
Gladiolus
multiflorus Bak.
for dysentery.
The
cooked corm of
Gladiolus
saundersii Hook. f.
is eaten along with food by the southern Sotho for the relief
of diarrhoea. A decoction of the corm of
Gladiolus
psittacinus Hook.
is a remedy for colds and dysentery.
The
Shangaan use
Gladiolus
in conjunction with
other medicinal plants and ingredients for a variety of ailments including
haemorrhoids.
Note: Gladiolus medicinal properties change according to the environment in which it is found. Climate and soil play an important role in the concentration of its active ingredients and medicinal properties.
History:
Most
Europeans are under the wrong impression on the origins of this wonderful plant.
The Gladiolus
was first discovered near the end of its range in KwaZulu Natal in the
late 1820's. The name G.
natalensis was then
used for species farmed in Holland. Plants were distributed under this name to
growers by Professor C.G.C. Reinwardt at Leyden. No other species of the genus
has caused so much taxonomic confusion and misunderstanding. It was given no
fewer than 27 synonyms based on plants from tropical Africa and Madagascar, and
14 more based on southern Africa collections.
Gladiolus
occurs virtually throughout the grasslands, savannas and woodlands of
sub-Saharan Africa. It also occurs in Arabia and Madagascar. Across its range
there are a number of variants, the most important of which are two exclusively
tropical African subspecies. How much of the Gladiolus
remarkable wide distribution across Africa is due to deliberate human activity,
we may never know.
A strikingly ornamental plant, Gladiolus is widely cultivated. A southern Africa form flowering in late summer is perhaps the best known in horticulture. The species was well established by 1866 in the gardens of Europe. More important, however, than its value as a wild species in gardens is the role of the is widely cultivated. A southern Africa form flowering in late summer is perhaps the best known in horticulture. The species was well established by 1866 in the gardens of Europe. More important, however, than its value as a wild species in gardens is the role of the Gladiolus from southern Africa in the breeding of the modern Gladiolus hybrids. It is one of the species that led to the development of the large-flowered Gladiolus cultivars, which are today among the world's most important cut-flower crops.
