Kniphofia


Kniphofia is a genus of perennial flowering plants in the family Asphodelaceae, first described as a genus in 1794. All species of Kniphofia are native to Africa. Common names include tritoma, red hot poker, torch lily and poker plant.

Description

The genus has herbaceous and evergreen species. The herbaceous 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 nectar-feeding birds such as sugarbirds and sunbirds. The Ethiopian wolf has been observed to feed on the nectar produced by Kniphofia foliosa; they are thought to be the only macropredator known to potentially act as a pollinator. In the New World, they may attract nectarivores such as hummingbirds and New World orioles.

Taxonomy

The genus Kniphofia was first erected by Conrad Moench in 1794. Moench considered the species he was describing sufficiently different from Carl Linnaeus's genus Aletris and from Veltheimia to warrant a new genus. The name honours Johann Hieronymus Kniphof, an 18th-century German physician and botanist.

Species

, Plants of the World Online accepted 73 species, including two hybrids.
  • Kniphofia acraea Codd - Cape Provinces of South Africa
  • Kniphofia albescens Codd - Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal
  • Kniphofia albomontana Baijnath - Lesotho, South Africa
  • Kniphofia angustifolia Codd - KwaZulu-Natal
  • Kniphofia ankaratrensis Baker - Madagascar
  • Kniphofia baurii Baker - KwaZulu-Natal, Cape Provinces
  • Kniphofia benguellensis Welw. ex Baker - Angola, Zambia
  • Kniphofia bequaertii De Wild. - Zaire, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda
  • Kniphofia brachystachya Codd - Lesotho, KwaZulu-Natal, Cape Provinces
  • Kniphofia breviflora Harv. ex Baker - KwaZulu-Natal, Free State
  • Kniphofia bruceae Codd - Cape Province
  • Kniphofia buchananii Baker - KwaZulu-NatalFile:Kniphofia drepanophylla, Jardin exotique de Roscoff.jpg|thumb|Kniphofia drepanophylla, Jardin exotique de Roscoff
  • Kniphofia caulescens Baker - Lesotho, KwaZulu-Natal, Cape Province, Free State
  • Kniphofia citrina Baker - Cape Province
  • Kniphofia coddiana Cufod. - KwaZulu-Natal, Cape Province
  • Kniphofia coralligemma E.A.Bruce - Limpopo
  • Kniphofia crassifolia Baker - Limpopo
  • Kniphofia drepanophylla Baker - KwaZulu-Natal, Cape Provinces
  • Kniphofia dubia De Wild - Zaire, Tanzania, Zambia, Angola
  • Kniphofia ensifolia Baker - South Africa
  • Kniphofia × erythraeae Fiori - Eritrea
  • Kniphofia evansii Baker - KwaZulu-Natal
  • Kniphofia fibrosa Baker - KwaZulu-Natal, Cape Provinces
  • Kniphofia flammula Codd - KwaZulu-Natal
  • Kniphofia fluviatilis Codd - South Africa
  • Kniphofia foliosa Hochst. - Ethiopia
  • Kniphofia galpinii Baker - KwaZulu-Natal, Eswatini, Mpumalanga
  • Kniphofia goetzei Engl. - Tanzania
  • Kniphofia gracilis Harv. ex Baker - KwaZulu-Natal, Cape Provinces
  • Kniphofia grantii Baker - Zaire, Tanzania, Zambia, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Malawi
  • Kniphofia hildebrandtii Cufod. - Ethiopia
  • Kniphofia hirsuta Codd - Lesotho, Cape Provinces
  • Kniphofia ichopensis Schinz - KwaZulu-Natal
  • Kniphofia insignis Rendle - Ethiopia
  • Kniphofia isoetifolia Hochst. - Ethiopia
  • Kniphofia latifolia Codd - KwaZulu-Natal
  • Kniphofia laxiflora Kunth - KwaZulu-Natal, Cape Provinces
  • Kniphofia leucocephala Baijnath - KwaZulu-Natal
  • Kniphofia linearifolia Baker - Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Eswatini, South Africa
  • Kniphofia littoralis Codd - KwaZulu-Natal
  • Kniphofia marungensis Lisowski & Wiland - Zaire
  • Kniphofia mulanjeana S.Blackmore - Mt. Mulanje in Malawi
  • Kniphofia multiflora J.M.Wood & M.S.Evans - Eswatini, South Africa
  • Kniphofia nana Marais - Zaire
  • Kniphofia northiae Baker - KwaZulu-Natal, Cape Provinces
  • Kniphofia nubigena Mildbr. - Sudan
  • Kniphofia pallidiflora Baker - Massif de l' Ankaratra in Madagascar
  • Kniphofia paludosa Engl - Elton Plateau in Tanzania
  • Kniphofia parviflora Kunth - KwaZulu-Natal, Cape Provinces
  • Kniphofia pauciflora Baker - KwaZulu-Natal
  • Kniphofia porphyrantha Baker - Lesotho, Eswatini, South Africa
  • Kniphofia × praecox Baker - Cape Provinces
  • Kniphofia princeae Marais - Zaire, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Malawi
  • Kniphofia pumila Kunth - Zaire, Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea
  • Kniphofia reflexa Hutch. ex Codd - Nigeria, Cameroon
  • Kniphofia reynoldsii Codd - Tanzania, Zambia
  • Kniphofia rigidifolia E.A.Bruce - Mpumalanga
  • Kniphofia ritualis Codd - Free State, Lesotho, KwaZulu-Natal
  • Kniphofia rooperi Lem. - KwaZulu-Natal, Cape Provinces
  • Kniphofia sarmentosa Kunth - Cape Provinces
  • Kniphofia schimperi Baker - Ethiopia, Eritrea
  • Kniphofia splendida E.A.Bruce - Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, northeastern South Africa, Eswatini
  • Kniphofia stricta Codd - Cape Provinces, Lesotho
  • Kniphofia sumarae Deflers - Ibb Mountains of Yemen
  • Kniphofia tabularis Marloth - Cape Provinces
  • Kniphofia thodei Baker - Lesotho, KwaZulu-Natal
  • Kniphofia thomsonii Baker - Zaire, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia
  • Kniphofia triangularis Kunth - Lesotho, South Africa
  • Kniphofia typhoides Codd - Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal, Free State, Mpumalanga
  • Kniphofia tysonii Baker - KwaZulu-Natal, Cape Provinces, Eswatini
  • Kniphofia umbrina Codd - Eswatini
  • Kniphofia uvaria Oken - Cape Provinces; naturalized in Mexico, North Carolina, Spain, Oregon, Turkey, Washington State, St. Helena, California
  • Kniphofia vandeweghei Fischer & Ackermann - Rwanda

    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:-
  • 'Barton Fever'
  • 'Bees' Sunset'
  • 'Brimstone'
  • 'Buttercup'
  • 'Coral Flame'
  • 'Fiery Fred'
  • 'Incandesce'
  • 'Innocence'
  • 'Jonathan'
  • 'Moonstone'
  • 'Nobilis'
  • 'Penny Rockets'
  • 'Primrose Upward'
  • 'Rich Echoes'
  • 'Royal Standard'
  • 'Safranvogel'
  • 'Samuel's Sensation'
  • 'Sunningdale Yellow'
  • 'Tawny King'
  • 'Timothy'
  • 'Toffee Nosed'
  • 'Wrexham Buttercup'