Kniphofia

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Monocots
Ordo: Asparagales

Familia: Asphodelaceae
Subfamilia: Asphodeloideae
Genus: Kniphofia
Species: K. acraea – K. albescens – K. albomontana – K. angustifolia – K. ankaratrensis – K. baurii – K. benguellensis – K. bequaertii – K. brachystachya – K. breviflora – K. bruceae – K. buchananii – K. caulescens – K. citrina – K. coddiana – K. coralligemma – K. crassifolia – K. drepanophylla – K. dubia – K. ensifolia – K. × erythraeae – K. evansii – K. fibrosa – K. flammula – K. fluviatilis – K. foliosa – K. galpinii – K. goetzei – K. gracilis – K. grantii – K. hildebrandtii – K. hirsuta – K. ichopensis – K. insignis – K. isoetifolia – K. latifolia – K. laxiflora – K. leucocephala – K. linearifolia – K. littoralis – K. marungensis – K. mulanjeana – K. multiflora – K. nana – K. northiae – K. nubigena – K. pallidiflora – K. paludosa – K. parviflora – K. pauciflora – K. porphyrantha – K. praecox – K. princeae – K. pumila – K. reflexa – K. reynoldsii – K. rigidifolia – K. ritualis – K. rooperi – K. sarmentosa – K. schimperi – K. splendida – K. stricta – K. sumarae – K. tabularis – K. thodei – K. thomsonii – K. triangularis – K. typhoides – K. tysonii – K. tysonii – K. umbrina – K. uvaria
Name

Kniphofia Moench (1794)
Synonyms

Heterotypic
Notosceptrum Benth. in G.Bentham & J.D.Hooker, Gen. Pl. 3: 775. 1883.
Rudolpho-roemeria Steud. ex Hochst., Flora 27: 30. 1844.
Triclissa Salisb., Gen. Pl.: 75. 1866.
Triocles Salisb., Monthly Rev. 75: 72. 1814.
Tritoma Ker Gawl., Bot. Mag. 20: t. 744. 1804.
Tritomanthe Link, Enum. Hort. Berol. Alt. 1: 333. 1821, nom. superfl.
Tritomium Link, Handbuch 1: 170. 1829.

References

Moench, C. 1794. Methodus 631.
Govaerts, R. et al. 2010. Kniphofia in World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2010 Jan 20. Reference page.

Vernacular names
English: Red hot poker, Torch lily, Poker plant
suomi: Soihtuliljat
magyar: Fáklyaliliom
latviešu: kniphofijas
polski: trytoma
русский: Книпхофия

Kniphofia /nɪpˈhoʊfiə/[2] is a genus of perennial flowering plants in the family Asphodelaceae, first described as a genus in 1794.[3] Species are native to Africa. Common names include tritoma, red hot poker, torch lily and poker plant.

Description

Herbaceous species and hybrids have narrow, grass-like leaves 10–100 cm (4–39 in) long, while evergreen species have broader, strap-shaped foliage up to 1.5 m (5 ft) long. All plants produce spikes of upright, brightly coloured flowers well above the foliage, in shades of red, orange and yellow, often bicoloured.[4] 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:-[5]

'Barton Fever' [6] (orange-white, 100cm)
'Bees' Sunset' [7] (yellow, 90cm)
'Brimstone' [8] (sulphur yellow, 90cm)
'Buttercup' [9] (clear yellow, 75cm)
'Coral Flame' [10] (coral red, 90cm)
'Fiery Fred' [11] (orange, 130cm)
'Incandesce' [12] (orange, 140cm)
'Innocence' [13] (red-yellow, 110cm)
'Jonathan' [14] (red-orange, 130cm)
'Moonstone' [15] (yellow, 120cm)
'Nobilis' [16] (evergreen, orange and yellow, 150cm+)
'Penny Rockets' [17] (orange, 100cm)
'Primrose Upward' [18] (yellow, 115cm)
'Rich Echoes' [19] (orange-yellow, 120cm)
'Royal Standard' [20] (red and yellow, 90cm)
'Safranvogel' [21] (peach pink, 80cm)
'Samuel's Sensation' [22] (red-yellow, 150cm)
'Sunningdale Yellow' [23] (orange and yellow, 60cm)
'Tawny King' [24] (cream/brown, 120cm)
'Timothy' [25] (orange, 100cm)
'Toffee Nosed' [26] (cream/brown, 100cm)
'Wrexham Buttercup' [27] (yellow, 120cm)

Species

There are about 73 described species.[1][28]

Kniphofia acraea Codd - Cape Province of South Africa
Kniphofia albescens Codd - Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal
Kniphofia albomontana Baijnath - Lesotho, South Africa
Kniphofia angustifolia (Baker) Codd - KwaZulu-Natal
Kniphofia ankaratrensis Baker - Madagascar
Kniphofia baurii Baker - KwaZulu-Natal, Cape Province
Kniphofia benguellensis Welw. ex Baker - Angola, Zambia
Kniphofia bequaertii De Wild. - Zaïre, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda
Kniphofia brachystachya (Zahlbr.) Codd - Lesotho, KwaZulu-Natal, Cape Province
Kniphofia breviflora Harv. ex Baker - KwaZulu-Natal, Free State
Kniphofia bruceae (Codd) Codd - Cape Province
Kniphofia buchananii Baker - KwaZulu-Natal
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 Province
Kniphofia dubia De Wild - Zaïre, Tanzania, Zambia, Angola
Kniphofia ensifolia Baker - South Africa
Kniphofia × erythraeae Fiori - Eritrea (K. pumila × K. schimperi)
Kniphofia evansii Baker - KwaZulu-Natal
Kniphofia fibrosa Baker - KwaZulu-Natal, Cape Province
Kniphofia flammula Codd - KwaZulu-Natal
Kniphofia fluviatilis Codd - South Africa
Kniphofia foliosa Hochst. - Ethiopia
Kniphofia galpinii Baker - KwaZulu-Natal, Swaziland, Mpumalanga
Kniphofia goetzei Engl. - Tanzania
Kniphofia gracilis Harv. ex Baker - KwaZulu-Natal, Cape Province
Kniphofia grantii Baker - Zaïre, Tanzania, Zambia, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Malawi
Kniphofia hildebrandtii Cufod. - Ethiopia
Kniphofia hirsuta Codd - Lesotho, Cape Province
Kniphofia ichopensis Schinz - KwaZulu-Natal
Kniphofia insignis Rendle - Ethiopia
Kniphofia isoetifolia Hochst. - Ethiopia
Kniphofia latifolia Codd - KwaZulu-Natal
Kniphofia laxiflora Kunth - KwaZulu-Natal, Cape Province
Kniphofia leucocephala Baijnath - KwaZulu-Natal
Kniphofia linearifolia Baker - Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Swaziland, South Africaa
Kniphofia littoralis Codd - KwaZulu-Natal
Kniphofia marungensis Lisowski & Wiland - Zaïre
Kniphofia mulanjeana S.Blackmore - Mt. Mulanje in Malawi
Kniphofia multiflora J.M.Wood & M.S.Evans - Swaziland, South Africa
Kniphofia nana Marais - Zaïre
Kniphofia northiae Baker - KwaZulu-Natal, Cape Province
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 Province
Kniphofia pauciflora Baker - KwaZulu-Natal
Kniphofia porphyrantha Baker - Lesotho, Swaziland, South Africa
Kniphofia praecox Baker - Cape Province
Kniphofia princeae (A.Berger) Marais - Zaïre, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Malawi
Kniphofia pumila (Aiton) Kunth - Zaïre, Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea
Kniphofia reflexa Hutch. ex Codd - Nigeria, Cameroon (endangered)[29]
Kniphofia reynoldsii Codd - Tanzania, Zambia
Kniphofia rigidifolia E.A.Bruce - Mpumalanga
Kniphofia ritualis Codd - Free State, Lesotho, KwaZulu-Natal
Kniphofia rooperi (T.Moore) Lem. - KwaZulu-Natal, Cape Province
Kniphofia sarmentosa (Andrews) Kunth - Cape Province
Kniphofia schimperi Baker - Ethiopia, Eritrea
Kniphofia splendida E.A.Bruce - Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, northeastern South Africa, Swaziland
Kniphofia stricta Codd - Cape Province, Lesotho
Kniphofia sumarae Deflers - Ibb Mountains of Yemen
Kniphofia tabularis Marloth - Cape Province
Kniphofia thodei Baker - Lesotho, KwaZulu-Natal
Kniphofia thomsonii Baker - Zaïre, 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 Province, Swaziland
Kniphofia umbrina Codd - Swaziland
Kniphofia uvaria (L.) Oken - Cape Province; naturalized in Mexico, North Carolina, Spain, Oregon, Turkey, Washington State, St. Helena, California
Kniphofia vandeweghei Fischer & Ackermann - Rwanda

Gallery

Kniphofia planted near Canary Wharf in London

Kniphofia 'Shenandoah'

Kniphofia uvaria

Kniphofia along the Ohlone Greenway trail in El Cerrito, California

Terete raceme of Kniphofia shown together with a cross section of a peduncle. A: Inflorescence; B: Terete peduncle; C: Cross section of a terete peduncle

See also

List of plants known as lily

References

Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
Sunset Western Garden Book, 1995:606–607
Stevens, P.F., Angiosperm Phylogeny Website: Asparagales: Asphodeloideae
RHS A-Z encyclopedia of garden plants. United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. 2008. p. 1136. ISBN 1405332964.
"AGM Plants - Ornamental" (PDF). Royal Horticultural Society. July 2017. p. 57. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
"Kniphofia 'Barton Fever'". RHS. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
"Kniphofia 'Bees' Sunset'". RHS. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
"Kniphofia 'Brimstone'". RHS. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
"Kniphofia 'Buttercup'". RHS. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
"Kniphofia 'Coral Flame'". RHS. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
"Kniphofia 'Fiery Fred'". RHS. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
"Kniphofia 'Incandesce'". RHS. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
"Kniphofia 'Innocence'". RHS. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
"Kniphofia 'Jonathan'". RHS. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
"Kniphofia 'Moonstone'". RHS. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
"Kniphofia 'Nobilis'". RHS. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
"Kniphofia 'Penny Rockets'". RHS. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
"Kniphofia 'Primrose Upward'". RHS. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
"Kniphofia 'Rich Echoes'". RHS. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
"Kniphofia 'Royal Standard'". RHS. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
"Kniphofia 'Safranvogel'". RHS. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
"Kniphofia 'Samuel's Sensation'". RHS. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
"Kniphofia 'Sunningdale Yellow'". RHS. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
"Kniphofia 'Tawny King'". RHS. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
"Kniphofia 'Timothy'". RHS. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
"Kniphofia 'Toffee Nosed'". RHS. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
"Kniphofia 'Wrexham Buttercup'". RHS. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
"A New Species of Kniphofia from Nyungwe National Park, Rwanda". Novataxa. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
"Kniphofia reflexa". Redlist.org. Retrieved 2012-05-13.