Aloes and Lilies of Ethiopia and Eritrea

116 ASPHODELACEAE
Fig. 61. Kniphofia foliosa, from Semien mountains, Gonder floristic region.
Kniphofia
hildebrandtii
Description
The species often occurs in large populations, e.g. as
seen near Seb sebe Washa in Bale, and at Alidoro between
Fiche and the Blue Nile Gorge in Shewa.
3. Kniphofia hildebrandtii Cufodontis
The specific epithet ‘hildebrandtii’ was given in honour
of the collector, Mr. Hilde brandt from whose collection
the type of the species was designated. The species was
described by Cufodontis in 1971 from a plant collected in
the Shewa Region west of Addis Ababa.
The species is clearly distinguished from the other
species by the pale greenish or yel lowish white flowers
and brown bracts that are not reflexed during or after
anthe sis.
Plants slender with fibrous remains of leaves at the base. Leaves
30–70 × 0.3–0.6 cm, linear, dark to greyish green, keeled; keels
and margin smooth. Peduncle (including raceme), (35–)65–110
cm long. Raceme 13–26 cm long, at flowering, secund, lax. Bracts
brown, cuspidate, 6.5–9 × 2–3 mm, serrulate. Perianth white,
greenish­white, pale yellow, pendulous, cylindrical, 13–16 mm
long, not widening at the mouth and not constricting at the base;
perianth lobes small, 0.5–1 mm long. Pedicel slender 4–6 mm long,
extending to 7–8 mm long in fruit. Stamens and style only shortly
exserted up to 3.5 mm long and stamens eventually withdrawn.
Fruit ovoid and pointed, 6 × 5 mm.