Gladiolus have fans of sword-shaped or linear leaves and spikes of funnel-shaped flowers. Gladiolus communis subsp. byzantinus is a perennial to 90cm, growing from a corm, with erect sword-shaped leaves nearly as tall as the flowering stems. Deep red-purple, funnel-shaped flowers 5cm in width, are borne in erect spikes.

A garden flower which occasionally escapes into the wild and may persist for a time.

Flowering May, June and July.

Cormous perennial.

Occasional scattered records of this plant being found in the wild in England

Rare away from cultivation in Leicestershire and Rutland. It was not recorded in the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire.