Kniphofia

Torch Lily ( Kniphofia uvaria )

The torch lily ( Kniphofia ), also called rocket flowers, are a genus in the subfamily Asphodelus ( Asphodelaceae ), with about 70 species. The botanical genus name honors the Erfurt Botany Professor Johann Hieronymus Kniphof ( 1704-1765 ). Some species are used as ornamental plants in parks and gardens.

Description

Torch Lilies are perennial, herbaceous plants that reach heights of growth from 80 to 160 centimeters. They are clump -forming, most species are evergreen, there are hardy species and varieties. They form horizontal rhizomes as outlasting. The leaves are in a basal rosette or more or less arranged in two rows on the stem. The simple leaves are mostly keeled. The leaf margin is smooth or serrated.

The racemose inflorescences are very high in some species. The flower stalks are usually short, extended in some species up to the ripening of fruits. In many species, the upper flowers are bright red and the further down they are in the inflorescence, the more the colors change to yellow; sometimes a part of the flower is white or green. In many species the flowers hang. The hermaphrodite flowers are triple. The two times three different polymorphic bracts are fused more or less campanulate to funnel-shaped. There are two circles, each with three stamens present; they are at the most as long as the bloom, said inner is longer than the outer ones. Three carpels are fused into an ovary. The style ends in a tiny, capitate stigma. The capsule fruit is globose to ovoid. The egg-shaped seeds are triangular to winged.

Occurrence

The approximately 70 Kniphofia species are native to Africa, mainly in eastern and southern Africa (47 of them in the Republic of South Africa). Only one kind are in Madagascar and the southern Arabian Peninsula.

System

The first description by Conrad Moench was published in 1794. For Kniphofia Moench has the following synonyms: Notosceptrum Benth, Rudolphoroemeria Steud. . ex Hochst., Triclissa Salisb. , Tritoma Ker Gawl. , Tritomanthe link.

The genus Kniphofia include the following types:

  • Kniphofia Acraea Codd
  • Kniphofia albescens Codd
  • Kniphofia albomontana Baijnath
  • Kniphofia angustifolia ( Baker) Codd
  • Kniphofia ankaratrensis Baker
  • Kniphofia baurii Baker
  • Kniphofia benguellensis Welw. ex Baker
  • Kniphofia bequaertii De Wild.
  • Kniphofia brachystachya ( Zahlbr. ) Codd
  • Kniphofia breviflora Harv. ex Baker
  • Kniphofia Bruceae ( Codd ) Codd
  • Kniphofia buchananii Baker
  • Kniphofia caulescens Baker
  • Kniphofia citrina Baker
  • Kniphofia coddiana Cufod.
  • Kniphofia coralligemma E.A.Bruce
  • Kniphofia crassifolia Baker
  • Kniphofia drepanophylla Baker
  • Kniphofia dubia De Wild.
  • Schwertblättrige torch lily ( Kniphofia ensifolia Baker) Kniphofia ensifolia subsp. ensifolia
  • Kniphofia ensifolia subsp. autumnalis Codd
  • Kniphofia ichopensis var ichopensis
  • Kniphofia ichopensis var aciformis Codd
  • Kniphofia thomsonii var thomsonii
  • Kniphofia thomsonii var snowdenii ( CHWright ) Marais
  • Kniphofia triangularis subsp. triangularis
  • Kniphofia triangularis subsp. obtusiloba ( Diels ex A.Berger ) Codd
  • Kniphofia tysonii subsp. tysonii
  • Kniphofia tysonii subsp. lemboensis Codd

Pictures

Kniphofia brachystachya

Kniphofia pauciflora

Kniphofia thomsonii

Kniphofia triangularis

Kniphofia uvaria

Kniphofia uvaria

Swell

  • S. Kativu: Asphodelaceae in Flora Zambesiaca; Volume 12, 2001: Kniphofia - Online. (English )
  • The genus in plantzafrica.com. (English )
  • Christian Grunert: Garden flowers from A to Z, Neumann Publisher Radebeul, 6th edition, 1984.
  • Walter Erhardt et al: The big walleye. Encyclopedia of plant names. Volume 2 Eugen Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart, 2008. ISBN 978-3-8001-5406-7
Ovary (botany)
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