PLATE 305. 
KNIPHOFIA NATALENSIS, Baker. (Fl. Cap. Vol. VI. p. 281). 
Natural Order, LitiackAs. 
Rootstock, neither bulbous nor tuberous. Leaves linear, elongate, 1 to 4 
feet long, up to 4 inch broad at base, tapering to 2 to 3 lines at apex, strongly 
channelled from base to apex, and sharply keeled beneath; coriaceous, with 10 to 
15 distinct veins between the midrib and the thickened margin, quite glabrous. 
Peduncle terete, glabrous, 2 to 4 feet long, naked, with a few distant empty bracts 
below the flowers. Raceme lax,6 to 8 inches long. Bracts oblong-lanceolate, 
scarious, with a distinct brownish midvein, } inch long. Flowers yellow, buds 
red, gradually becoming yellow as they open (in the variety condensata the flowers 
are yellow in all stages). Perianth sub-cylindrical, constricted above the ovary ; 
1 to 13 inch long; segments 6; ovate, 1 line long. Stamens 6, hypogynous, as 
long as the perianth, filaments filiform, the three opposite the inner segments 
longest, and finally a little exserted, the others included; anthers oblong, dorsi- 
fixed, versatile, opening inwards. Ovary superior, sessile, ovoid, 3-celled, many 
ovuled, ovules superposed; style filiform, longer than stamens; stigma minute, 
capitate. Capsule 4 lines long, seeds angular, testa brownish black. 
Habitat: Nata: In open ground all over the colony. Inanda, 1,800 feet alt., 
Wood, No. 636; hills above Tugela River, Zululand, Wood, No. 3871; without 
precise locality, ddlam; var. angustifo'a, Tabamhlope Mountain, 6,000 to 7,000 
feet alt.; Hvans, No. 411; var. condensata, near Manderston, 2,800 feet alt., Wood. 
Also in Griqualand Hast. 
Drawn and described from specimens: in Botanic Gardens, Durban, October, 
1902, Wood, No. 8605. 
This genus is said to contain 46 specimens, of which 32 are South African, 12 
Tropical African, and 2 outliers in Madagascar; of the 32 South African species 
10, or perhaps more, are found in Natal. Most of the species are ornamental, and 
are not uncommon in cultivation. 
The variety “ condensata”’ does not differ much from the type, except that the 
flowers are yellow in all stages of growth, and we have seen it with both scape and 
leaves longer than is usual in the type. Native name “i-quaquana.” 
Fig. 1, longitudinal section of flower; 2, longitudinal section of ovary; 8, 
cross-section of ovary ; all enlarged. 
