Not Sure Of Origin

[herbage]

Cheerful girl gives South American plant(8)

[ProfessorMaisie]

GLADIOLA

[ProfessorMaisie]

I think Iola is the Greek form of 'violet' (feminine name).

[ProfessorMaisie]

...but should be Gladiolus of course.

[ProfessorMaisie]

gladiola noun
glad·​i·​o·​la | \ˌgla-dē-ˈō-lə
\
Definition of gladiola

: gladiolus sense 1
Examples of gladiola in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Their wives, mothers and other family members and friends, dressed in white and carrying gladiolas, began weekly marches along Havana's Fifth Avenue in support of the release of the prisoners. — Mimi Whitefield, miamiherald, "Cuba's Ladies in White win $250,000 prize for advancing liberty | Miami Herald," 17 May 2018 The flower cross was soon heavy with fragrant lilies, gladiolas, roses and even a few colorful weeds from tiny children's hands, and was changed before our eyes into Holy art. — Greg Garrison, AL.com, "Southern playwright Tennessee Williams majored in journalism at Mizzou," 26 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'gladiola.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

[ProfessorMaisie]

But I don't like it - hopefully, someone will come up with a better answer.

[herbage]

A friend said perkysue?

[Mamyalynne]

Your friend may well be right.

http://www.americansouthwest.net/plants/wildflowers/tetraneuris-ivesiana.html

[ProfessorMaisie]

That's a new one on me (and Chambers - I've just pencilled 'perkysue' into the margin - thank you).