Tuesday 21 May
In the News: First crane egg in the western UK in four centuries
Kniphofia (Kniphofia reflexa)
Kniphofia fact file
- Description
- Biology
- Range
- Habitat
- Status
- Threats
- Conservation
- Find out more
- Glossary
- References
- Print factsheet
Kniphofia description
| Kingdom | Plantae |
| Phylum | Tracheophyta |
| Class | Liliopsida |
| Order | Liliales |
| Family | Asphodelaceae |
| Genus | Kniphofia (1) |
This large herb was lost to science for over 60 years until it was rediscovered in 1996 (3). The long leaves are arranged in large rosettes, which can be around a metre wide (2). The inflorescence, or flower stem, towers from this base as a conspicuous spike, which can be 2 metres tall when bearing fruit (2). The upper portion of the stalk carries many small, bell-like yellow flowers (2).
More »
Top
Related species
Kniphofia biology
Very little is known about this perennialherb(2), but it may be that fire is needed to either promote flowering or to appropriately manage the habitat within which it is found; more research is needed on this subject (1). Fruiting occurs in November and flowering may take place in April (2).
TopKniphofia range
Kniphofia reflexa was 'rediscovered' in 1996 in the Afua swamp in Cameroon but has subsequently disappeared from this site (3). It is presently known from 3 different sites within Cameroon: Kinkolong near the summit of Mount Oku, 'Mbesa Swamp' on the Ijim Ridge and a population within the Mbi Crater (3). In May 2002, between 1 and 3,000 plants were recorded at the Mbi Crater and this is now recognised to be the main stronghold of the species (4).
More »
Top
Species with a similar range
Kniphofia habitat
Inhabits swamps, marshes and bogs (1); found between 1,750 and 2,900 metres above sea level (2).
More »
Top
Species found in a similar habitat
Kniphofia status
Classified as Endangered (EN - C1) on the IUCN Red List 2002 (1).
Kniphofia threats
The cause of the disappearance of Kniphofia reflexa from the Afua Swamp is unclear but the area has undergone extensive habitat destruction in recent years. This is likely to have played a major part in the disappearance, and represents the biggest threat to the survival of this rare species today (3).
TopKniphofia conservation
Kniphofia reflexa is the only member of this genus to be found in central-West Africa, making its conservation particularly important (3). The conservation priorities are annual monitoring of the three known sites to determine the state of the populations, as well as searches for possible new areas (1). Propagation of Kniphofia reflexa from seed, with a view to reintroducing this species to the Afua Swamp, is also a possibility (2).
TopAuthentication
Authenticated (20/1/03) by Ben Pollard, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
http://www.rbgkew.org.uk
Glossary
- Herb
- A small, non-woody, seed bearing plant in which all the aerial parts die back at the end of each growing season.
- Inflorescence
- The reproductive shoot of the plant, which bears flowers (See http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/ksheets/pdfs/flower.pdf for a fact sheet on flower structure)
- Perennial
- Plants that live for at least three seasons; after an initial period they produce flowers once a year.
References
- IUCN Red List (October, 2002) www.redlist.org
- Cheek, M., Onana, J.-M. and Pollard, B.J. (2000) The Plants of Mount Oku & the Ijim Ridge, a Conservation Checklist. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London.
- Cheek, M. (Oct, 2002) Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Pers. comm.
- Pollard, B. (Jan, 2003) Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Pers. comm.
More »Related species
Sign up to our newsletter
Get the latest wild news direct to your inbox.
Get involved
ARKive relies on its media donors to donate photos and videos. Can you help? There are plenty of other ways you can get involved too!
X
Close
Close
Image credit
Kniphofia reflexa
© Ben Pollard / Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Richmond
Surrey
TW9 3AB
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0) 208 332 5000
Fax: +44 (0) 208 332 5197
info@kew.org
http://www.rbgkew.org.uk
X
Close
Close
Link to this photo
Embed this ARKive thumbnail link by copying and pasting the code below.
Terms of Use - The displayed thumbnail may be used as a link from your website to ARKive's online content for private, scientific, conservation or educational purposes only. It may NOT be used within Apps.
Read more about
X
Close
Close
MyARKive
MyARKive offers the scrapbook feature to signed-up members, allowing you to organize your favourite ARKive images and videos and share them with friends.
X
Close
Close
Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials
Copyright in this website and materials contained on this website (Material) belongs to Wildscreen or its licensors.
Visitors to this website (End Users) are entitled to:
- view the contents of, and Material on, the website;
- download and retain copies of the Material on their personal systems in digital form in low resolution for their own personal use;
- teachers, lecturers and students may incorporate the Material in their educational material (including, but not limited to, their lesson plans, presentations, worksheets and projects) in hard copy and digital format for use within a registered educational establishment, provided that the integrity of the Material is maintained and that copyright ownership and authorship is appropriately acknowledged by the End User.
End Users shall not copy or otherwise extract, alter or manipulate Material other than as permitted in these Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials.
Additional use of flagged material
Green flagged material 
Certain Material on this website (Licence 4 Material) displays a green flag next to the Material and is available for not-for-profit conservation or educational use. This material may be used by End Users, who are individuals or organisations that are in our opinion not-for-profit, for their not-for-profit conservation or not-for-profit educational purposes. Low resolution, watermarked images may be copied from this website by such End Users for such purposes. If you require high resolution or non-watermarked versions of the Material, please contact Wildscreen with details of your proposed use.
Creative commons material
Certain Material on this website has been licensed to Wildscreen under a Creative Commons Licence. These images are clearly marked with the Creative Commons buttons and may be used by End Users only in the way allowed by the specific Creative Commons Licence under which they have been submitted. Please see http://creativecommons.org for details.
Any other use
Please contact the copyright owners directly (copyright and contact details are shown for each media item) to negotiate terms and conditions for any use of Material other than those expressly permitted above. Please note that many of the contributors to ARKive are commercial operators and may request a fee for such use.
Save as permitted above, no person or organisation is permitted to incorporate any copyright material from this website into any other work or publication in any format (this includes but is not limited to: websites, Apps, CDs, DVDs, intranets, extranets, signage, digital communications or on printed materials for external or other distribution). Use of the Material for promotional, administrative or for-profit purposes is not permitted.