Red-Hot Poker, Torchlily                nee-FOF-ee-a oo-VAH-ree-a

• Herbaceous evergreen perennial, 2-6 ft (0.6-1.8 m) tall, depending upon the cultivar.  Leaves gray-green, sword shaped, 90 x 2.5 cm, often keeled and abrasive along the margins, sharpley pointed.  Two toned spike-like clusters of bright, short-stalked flowers, 2.5-5 cm, red in bud maturing to yellow or orange.
• Sun to part shade, valuable in borders and among shrubs.  After flowers senesce leaves decline and become an eyesore, cut foliage back half way to improve appearance (Armitage, p. 322).
• Hardy to USDA Zone 5      Native to the damp grasslands of South Africa.
• Kniphofia uvaria is one of the parents of the many hybrid Kniphofia now available, and these have mostly replaced this species in gardens.
• Kniphofia: after Johann Hieronymus Kniphof (1704-56), German botanist. uvaria: like a bunch of grapes.
• Oregon State Univ. campus: front of Benton Hall.