Kniphofia

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Kniphofia (Template:IPAc-en,<ref>Sunset Western Garden Book, 1995:606–607</ref> Template:IPAc-en,<ref>Template:Cite LPD</ref><ref name=Coom94>Template:Cite book</ref> Template:IPAc-en<ref name=John72>Template:Cite book</ref>) is a genus of perennial flowering plants in the family Asphodelaceae, first described as a genus in 1794.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> 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 Template:Convert long, while evergreen species have broader, strap-shaped foliage up to Template:Convert long. All plants produce spikes of upright, brightly coloured flowers well above the foliage, in shades of red, orange and yellow, often bicoloured.<ref name="RHSAZ">Template:Cite book</ref> The flowers produce copious nectar while blooming and are attractive to bees and nectar-feeding birds such as sugarbirds and sunbirds.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref name=IPNI_331220-2>Template:IPNI</ref> Moench considered the species he was describing (now Kniphofia uvaria) sufficiently different from Carl Linnaeus's genus Aletris and from Veltheimia to warrant a new genus.<ref name=Moen94>Template:Cite book</ref> The name honours Johann Hieronymus Kniphof, an 18th-century German physician and botanist.<ref name=John72p59>Template:Cite book p. 59.</ref>

Species

Template:As of, Plants of the World Online accepted 73 species, including two hybrids.<ref name=POWO_331220-2>Template:Cite POWO</ref>

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:-<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Div col

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See also

References

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