GREATER RED-HOT-POKER
Kniphofia × praecox
Asphodel Family [Xanthorrhoeaceae] 
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Asphodel Family [Xanthorrhoeaceae]
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status
flower
flower
inner
morph
petals
type
type
stem
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| 22nd June 2010, Grange over Sands, Cumbria. | Photo: © RWD |
| Up to 2 metres high and much more likely to be found growing in a garden, as here, than on sand dunes. |
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| 22nd June 2010, Grange over Sands, Cumbria. | Photo: © RWD |
| A single sturdy un-branched stem with stubby triangular 'bracts' bears a single dense flower bi-coloured spike atop. |
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| 22nd June 2010, Grange over Sands, Cumbria. | Photo: © RWD |
| Younger stems are shorter, and have more un-opened tubular flowers that are red and resemble red-hot pokers. |
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| 22nd June 2010, Grange over Sands, Cumbria. | Photo: © RWD |
| The flowers open starting from the bottom of the flowering spike and work their way up to the top until all flowers have opened. |
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| 22nd June 2010, Grange over Sands, Cumbria. | Photo: © RWD |
| Unopened flowers are fire red. As they open their redness fades to a yellowy cream with an orange stripe. The stamens protrude and slowly grow longer from the six-petalled opening. |
_2010_06_22_GrangeOverSands_098p03.jpg)
| 22nd June 2010, Grange over Sands, Cumbria. | Photo: © RWD |
Until the stamens are protruding a good 15mm beyond the opening, un-like Red-hot-Pokerwhere they only protrude slightly. |
_2010_06_22_GrangeOverSands_099p87.jpg)
| 22nd June 2010, Grange over Sands, Cumbria. | Photo: © RWD |
| As the stamens grow ever longer, the anthers turn from creamy orange to brown, then black, with white pollen. |
_2010_06_22_GrangeOverSands_098p90.jpg)
| 22nd June 2010, Grange over Sands, Cumbria. | Photo: © RWD |
| Just opened flowers with extending stamens. |
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| 22nd June 2010, Grange over Sands, Cumbria. | Photo: © RWD |
| Pollen on anthers originally creamy coloured. |
_2010_06_22_GrangeOverSands_101.jpg)
| 22nd June 2010, Grange over Sands, Cumbria. | Photo: © RWD |
| Bird's-eye view of radiating whirls of flowers, perhaps ten in a closely-packed row. |
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| 22nd June 2010, Grange over Sands, Cumbria. | Photo: © RWD |
| Older spent flowers at the bottom of the spike wither and go brown. |
_2010_06_22_GrangeOverSands_105p7.jpg)
| 22nd June 2010, Grange over Sands, Cumbria. | Photo: © RWD |
| Stem smooth with vertical striations. |
_2010_06_22_GrangeOverSands_096p4.jpg)
| 22nd June 2010, Grange over Sands, Cumbria. | Photo: © RWD |
| A huge bunch of very long, grass-like leaves strikes from the ground around each stem and gradually taper to a sharp and browning point. Outer leaves bend over un-able to keep themselves erect despite their stiffening 'V'-shape cross-section. |
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Easily mistaken for : Uniquely identifiable characteristics Distinguishing Feature : Greater Red-hot-Poker is a hybrid, and many different varieties are cultivated for the garden. This specimen may well be one of them. Much more likely to be found in a garden setting than wild. When growing wild, it grows on older coastal sand dunes, rather than mobile ones! The flowers themselves are fused tubular affairs, and the opening has six very short triangular petals which open with an inward flare rather than the much more usual outward flare. It shares a similar shape with the flowers of Navelwort, but they do not change colour, are cream-coloured and have only five short triangular petals without any protruding stamens.
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 Kniphofia
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× praecox
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⇐ Global Aspect ⇒ |
Xanthorrhoeaceae
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 Kniphofia (Red-Hot-Pokers) |
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Asphodel Family [Xanthorrhoeaceae]
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BSBI maps