Kniphofia fluviatilis

Kniphofia fluviatilis, commonly known as the river poker, grows a leaf tuft from a rhizome, the thick, fleshy, underground, root-like stems. The plants reach about 70 cm in height when flowering. 

The dense inflorescence is a bicolour raceme of up to 9 cm long, growing on a stout stem. The red to orange red buds are pendulous, angled out like a rondavel roof, the yellow to apricot open flowers below the buds droop more. The stamens protrude slightly from the young flowers, withdraw later. The perianths are from 42 mm to 50 mm long. 

The poker component of the common name relates to the generally used red-hot poker name for several Kniphofia species, referring to the typical flower form. It is not surprising that Kniphofia is botanically part of the Asphodelaceae family, resembling particularly flowers of the Aloe genus.

The species distribution is in the east of South Africa along the Drakensberg, from the far north of the Eastern Cape, the east of the Free State, the west of KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga, also in Lesotho.

The plant is found in grassy vleis, marshes and near watercourses at higher elevations in summer rainfall grassland. The common name of river poker confirms the feature indicated by the specific epithet, fluviatilis, meaning river-like. The habitat population is deemed of least concern early in the twenty first century (iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).