KMPHOFIA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



KNIPHOFIA. 



639 



like foliage, growing 4 ft. to 5 ft. high, 

 with massive heads of bright red flowers, 

 changing to yellow, and borne early in 

 June. 



K. Uvaria. Syn., K. aloides. 



Other species not noticed in detail are 

 K. pumila, pallidiflora, pauciflora, natal- 

 ensis, Kirki, Tysoni, modesta, Granti. 

 D. K. 



HYBRIDS AND VARIETIES. As we are 

 getting to know the value of the Flame 



Kniphofia Obelisk. 



Flowers, many beautiful hybrids have 

 been raised. We are indebted to Mr. Max 

 Leichtlin for quite a group of them. 

 Others have^ given us beautiful forms, 

 such as the varieties John Waterer, Otto 

 Mann, Max Leichtlin, and others, but all 

 these owe their origin to red-flowered 

 species, and do not much depart from the 

 typical forms. Since the introduction, 

 however, of yellow-flowered species, a 

 new field was opened to the hybridiser. 



The predominating colour in these new 

 hybrids is yellow, in all shades varying 

 through orange to a crimson-scarlet. In 

 habit the plants vary quite as much as in 

 the colour and form of the flower-spikes. 

 Of some, whose parentage to K. Leichtlini 

 must be very near, the foliage is narrow 

 and deciduous, and the spikes not more 

 than 3 ft. high. Other varieties have 

 massive foliage some 3 in. or 4 in. broad, 

 the spikes attaining a height of 7 ft. The 

 variety Obelisk is robust, with broad leaf- 

 age and spikes some 5 ft. in height. The 

 colour of the spikes is a pure golden- 

 yellow, and strong spikes often produce 

 two or three additional spikelets. 



Other beautiful forms are Triumph, a 

 very fine hybrid ; Star of Baden-Baden, 

 straw-yellow, the spikes more than 7 ft. 

 high ; Ophir, orange-yellow, very free- 

 flowering ; Lachesis, very hardy and 

 rapid in growth, the flower deep yellow, 

 turning to straw colour. Turning from 

 the yellow varieties we have Leda, a 

 beautiful and early-flowering form, about 

 4 ft. high, the flowers coral-red with an 

 orange tinge. Matador seems to have 

 nobilis for one of its parents ; the spikes 

 are large, broad, and the colour a deep 

 red. Van Tubergen, jun., of Haarlem, 

 finds that in his deeply dug, rich sandy 

 soil where water can never be stagnant, 

 all the above Kniphofias safely pass the 

 winter outside if superfluous water is 

 warded off. This gathers in the central 

 parts of the plants, and may prove dis- 

 astrous when suddenly sharp frosts occur. 



There are now fifty or sixty varieties 

 of these brilliant Torch Lilies, in place 

 of the few known, say twenty years 

 ago, but had we only the old Kniphofia 

 (Tritoma) Uvaria, it is a plant capable of 

 yielding very fine effects as planted in 

 quantity either alone or grouped along 

 with other suitable vegetation. All the 

 hardy kinds grow well in deep well-drained 

 loam and are readily increased by division 

 or by seeds, which some varieties bear 

 freely in mild localities. Once well planted 

 in bold groups, Kniphofias form the most 

 effective masses of colour, and their effect 

 is visible at long distances, so that they 

 are plants of much value to the landscape 

 gardener who may use them on lawns, or 

 wood margins, on banks, and near water, 

 either alone or along with other vigorous 

 plants, such as Spiraeas, Pampas Grass, 

 Arundo, or the Giant Polygonum sachali- 

 nense and P. Sieboldi. A bold group of 

 these flowers backed or partly surrounded 

 by hardy Bamboos is a sight in October 

 not readily to be forgotten. K. Obelisk 

 is the splendid Kniphofia of which an 



