Kniphofia


Kniphofia, also called tritoma, red hot poker, torch lily, knofflers or poker plant, is a genus of perennial flowering plants in the family Asphodelaceae, first described as a genus in 1794. It is native to Africa.

Description

species and hybrids have narrow, grass-like leaves long, while evergreen species have broader, strap-shaped foliage up to long. All plants produce spikes of upright, brightly coloured flowers well above the foliage, in shades of red, orange and yellow, often bicoloured. The flowers produce copious nectar while blooming and are attractive to bees and sunbirds. In the New World they may attract nectarivores such as hummingbirds and New World orioles.

Etymology

The genus Kniphofia is named after Johann Hieronymus Kniphof, an 18th-century German physician and botanist.

Cultivation

Several species of Kniphofia are cultivated as garden plants, valued for their architectural properties. These include K. galpini, K. northiae, K. rooperi and K. thomsonii.
In addition to the species, many named cultivars of mixed or uncertain parentage have been selected for garden use. The following have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:-
There are about 73 described species.
  1. Kniphofia acraea Codd - Cape Province of South Africa
  2. Kniphofia albescens Codd - Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal
  3. Kniphofia albomontana Baijnath - Lesotho, South Africa
  4. Kniphofia angustifolia Codd - KwaZulu-Natal
  5. Kniphofia ankaratrensis Baker - Madagascar
  6. Kniphofia baurii Baker - KwaZulu-Natal, Cape Province
  7. Kniphofia benguellensis Welw. ex Baker - Angola, Zambia
  8. Kniphofia bequaertii De Wild. - Zaïre, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda
  9. Kniphofia brachystachya Codd - Lesotho, KwaZulu-Natal, Cape Province
  10. Kniphofia breviflora Harv. ex Baker - KwaZulu-Natal, Free State
  11. Kniphofia bruceae Codd - Cape Province
  12. Kniphofia buchananii Baker - KwaZulu-Natal
  13. Kniphofia caulescens Baker - Lesotho, KwaZulu-Natal, Cape Province, Free State
  14. Kniphofia citrina Baker - Cape Province
  15. Kniphofia coddiana Cufod. - KwaZulu-Natal, Cape Province
  16. Kniphofia coralligemma E.A.Bruce - Limpopo
  17. Kniphofia crassifolia Baker - Limpopo
  18. Kniphofia drepanophylla Baker - KwaZulu-Natal, Cape Province
  19. Kniphofia dubia De Wild - Zaire, Tanzania, Zambia, Angola
  20. Kniphofia ensifolia Baker - South Africa
  21. Kniphofia × erythraeae Fiori - Eritrea
  22. Kniphofia evansii Baker - KwaZulu-Natal
  23. Kniphofia fibrosa Baker - KwaZulu-Natal, Cape Province
  24. Kniphofia flammula Codd - KwaZulu-Natal
  25. Kniphofia fluviatilis Codd - South Africa
  26. Kniphofia foliosa Hochst. - Ethiopia
  27. Kniphofia galpinii Baker - KwaZulu-Natal, Swaziland, Mpumalanga
  28. Kniphofia goetzei Engl. - Tanzania
  29. Kniphofia gracilis Harv. ex Baker - KwaZulu-Natal, Cape Province
  30. Kniphofia grantii Baker - Zaïre, Tanzania, Zambia, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Malawi
  31. Kniphofia hildebrandtii Cufod. - Ethiopia
  32. Kniphofia hirsuta Codd - Lesotho, Cape Province
  33. Kniphofia ichopensis Schinz - KwaZulu-Natal
  34. Kniphofia insignis Rendle - Ethiopia
  35. Kniphofia isoetifolia Hochst. - Ethiopia
  36. Kniphofia latifolia Codd - KwaZulu-Natal
  37. Kniphofia laxiflora Kunth - KwaZulu-Natal, Cape Province
  38. Kniphofia leucocephala Baijnath - KwaZulu-Natal
  39. Kniphofia linearifolia Baker - Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Swaziland, South Africa
  40. Kniphofia littoralis Codd - KwaZulu-Natal
  41. Kniphofia marungensis Lisowski & Wiland - Zaïre
  42. Kniphofia mulanjeana S.Blackmore - Mt. Mulanje in Malawi
  43. Kniphofia multiflora J.M.Wood & M.S.Evans - Swaziland, South Africa
  44. Kniphofia nana Marais - Zaïre
  45. Kniphofia northiae Baker - KwaZulu-Natal, Cape Province
  46. Kniphofia nubigena Mildbr. - Sudan
  47. Kniphofia pallidiflora Baker - Massif de l' Ankaratra in Madagascar
  48. Kniphofia paludosa Engl - Elton Plateau in Tanzania
  49. Kniphofia parviflora Kunth - KwaZulu-Natal, Cape Province
  50. Kniphofia pauciflora Baker - KwaZulu-Natal
  51. Kniphofia porphyrantha Baker - Lesotho, Swaziland, South Africa
  52. Kniphofia praecox Baker - Cape Province
  53. Kniphofia princeae Marais - Zaïre, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Malawi
  54. Kniphofia pumila Kunth - Zaïre, Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea
  55. Kniphofia reflexa Hutch. ex Codd - Nigeria, Cameroon
  56. Kniphofia reynoldsii Codd - Tanzania, Zambia
  57. Kniphofia rigidifolia E.A.Bruce - Mpumalanga
  58. Kniphofia ritualis Codd - Free State, Lesotho, KwaZulu-Natal
  59. Kniphofia rooperi Lem. - KwaZulu-Natal, Cape Province
  60. Kniphofia sarmentosa Kunth - Cape Province
  61. Kniphofia schimperi Baker - Ethiopia, Eritrea
  62. Kniphofia splendida E.A.Bruce - Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, northeastern South Africa, Swaziland
  63. Kniphofia stricta Codd - Cape Province, Lesotho
  64. Kniphofia sumarae Deflers - Ibb Mountains of Yemen
  65. Kniphofia tabularis Marloth - Cape Province
  66. Kniphofia thodei Baker - Lesotho, KwaZulu-Natal
  67. Kniphofia thomsonii Baker - Zaïre, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia
  68. Kniphofia triangularis Kunth - Lesotho, South Africa
  69. Kniphofia typhoides Codd - Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal, Free State, Mpumalanga
  70. Kniphofia tysonii Baker - KwaZulu-Natal, Cape Province, Swaziland
  71. Kniphofia umbrina Codd - Swaziland
  72. Kniphofia uvaria Oken - Cape Province; naturalized in Mexico, North Carolina, Spain, Oregon, Turkey, Washington State, St. Helena, California
  73. Kniphofia vandeweghei Fischer & Ackermann - Rwanda

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