Question
I am confused. Is the iris and the gladiola in the same family? I can't quite tell them apart. How are they related, if at all.

Answer
Hi Judy,
Thanx for your question.  Irises and gladioli (plural of gladiolus) are both members of the Iridaceae family.  The main outward characteristics they share are the sword-like leaves.  In fact, the name gladiolus is taken from the Latin gladius (sword).  There are other botanical characteristics that identifies iris and gladioli with Iridaceae which includes the make up of stamens and the ovary of the flowers.  

The gladiolus produces a long stalk that carries numerous colorful flowers while the stalk of a common German bearded iris may have only 3 large flowers.  There are many different types of irises just as there are many different types of gladioli but in the U.S. and Canada we are primarly used to the hybrid versions which are often significant in floral arrangements and the ones grown in the garden.

Check out these links.

Pictures of iris
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=iris&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=Jq4VSp...

Pictures of gladiolus
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=gladiolus&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

I hope this helps.
Tom