Name: Tritoma; Red hot poker; Torch lily; Knofflers; Poker plant.
Botany: frequented by nectar-feeding birds such as sunbirds and sugarbirds. They are also visited by certain insects. The flowers of some species of Kniphofia are reportedly used as a minor food and apparently taste like honey. Kniphofia parviflora is reported to have been made into a traditional snake repellent. Kniphofia rooperii and Kniphofia laxiflora are used traditionally as a medicine. An infusion of the roots is used to relieve or treat the symptoms of certain chest disorders.

The genus Kniphofia was named in honour of Johannes Hieronymus Kniphof, 1704-1763, who was a professor of medicine at Erfurt University in Germany. Kniphofia belongs to the family Asphodelaceae which comprises 17 genera (10 of which occur in South Africa) and about 750 species. About 70 species of Kniphofia occur in Africa and 47 of these are found in the eastern areas of South Africa.