Gladiolus atroviolaceus
The deep violet/purple of this plant is no artifact of the camera. It really is an exceedingly deep colour and spectacular enough for some gardeners to try to grow it is as specialty. We were actually so close to the border with Iran that less than half a mile away we could see the many tankers queuing to cross the border. It was a time when a certain president of the U.S. had placed strict sanctions on Iran. But Turkey gets most of its oil from Iran and clearly neither country were taking too much notice of any instructions from a western leader who likely never visited either place and knew nothing of their close trading relationship.
The border area is patrolled by Turkish military and it was only a matter of time, at our next attempted stop, that they turned us away by which time we had seen a good many of the wonderful plants of this area.
Gladiolus atroviolaceus can be found in ran, Iraq, Lebanon-Syria, Palestine, Caucasus countries, Turkey and Turkmenistan.
|
| Gladiolus atroviolaceus No English name |
Field next to Iran/Turkey border, Eastern Turkey 27th May 2019
Added on 18th January 2021