Kniphofia albomontana

Kniphofia albomontana is a tufted perennial growing three or four stems from a rhizome, reaching heights around 1,2 m.

The long, narrow leaves are stiff and V-shaped, growing in a basal rosette. Margins and the keels on the upper parts are finely toothed. The leaves are up to 1 m long and 4,5 cm wide. In picture the nearly erect leaves taper gradually to acutely pointed tips and curve slightly.

The dense, egg-shaped inflorescence comprises brown-purple, then orange buds at the top and pale, yellow-green open flowers lower down, sometimes tinged orange. The inflorescence is up to 22 cm long and 7 cm in diameter. The short-stalked flower tubes are narrowly funnel-shaped and up to 3,5 cm long and 3 mm wide. The bracts are longer than 2 cm. The stamens are exserted from the open perianths, facing down. The whitish styles are longer, further exserted and angling up. The large fruits (1,3 cm long and 1 cm wide) are borne erectly. Blooming happens from before midsummer to early autumn.

The species distribution is in the Drakensberg regions of KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape and the Free State, as well as in Lesotho. The specific name, albomontana, is derived from the Latin words albus meaning white and montanus meaning mountainous, referring to Ntabamhlophe (white mountain), a place in the KwaZulu-Natal Drakensberg where the plant is also found. The photo was taken near the Sani Pass.

The habitat is seepages in montane grassland. The habitat population is deemed of least concern early in the twenty first century.

The species used to form part of K. northiae (Pooley, 1998; iNaturalist; https://www.worldfloraonline.org; http://redlist.sanbi.org).