Acidanthera

This plant also known as Abyssinian gladiolus, Acidanthera bicolour and peacock orchid. Its scientific name is Gladiolus murielae . This interesting species is not an orchid but is a species of flowering plant in the family Iridaceae, native to eastern Africa. These plants require a longer growing season than common hybrid gladiolus .The flowers are similar to the familiar gladiolus, but are more delicate and relaxed than the showy hybrids. The 2-3” star-shaped, white flowers, with 6 equal tepals have a deep purple blotch in the center, each stem produces several flowers that open one at a time starting from the bottom of the spike, over a period of three to four weeks. The individual flowers last a few days and make long-lasting cut flowers. From my reading they are fragrant with a light scent reminiscent of gardenia or jasmine that is stronger at night. Sadly i never smell its fragrant even when i put my nose a mere centimetre from the flower!  The corms were kept in the fridge since March; thank God it is still ok

water droplet on the leaves and petal

close-up view