Download Kniphofia reflexa Rare plants of the Kilum-Ijim mountain forests

Rare plants of the Kilum-Ijim mountain forests
Kniphofia reflexa (Asphodelaceae)
Kniphofia reflexa is a tufted perennial herb with soft leaves up to 60 cm long x 1.5 cm broad, arranged in a
rosette; the inflorescence is a stout spike 0.6 to 1.6 m tall (to 2 m tall in fruit), smothered with small yellow
flowers followed by black fruits. Populations usually produce only a few flowering spikes at one time.
Kniphofia reflexa
Hutch. ex Codd
TO WUM
Swamp
Laikom
Ring road
Mbesa
Swamp
Fundong
IJIM
RID
GE
N
KEY
Approximate boundary of
Kilum-Ijim protected area
Oku-Elak
Lake
Oku
Summit
(3011m)
Belo
Afua swamp
Kinkolong
Swamp
0
5
10
km
indicates swamp patches around Kilum-Ijim
where Kniphofia reflexa is known to occur
TO BAMENDA
Mbi Crater
The only site
in the world
Swampy habitats have many rare species in need of protection
=
Long known only from the collection made by Maitland in April 1931 from a single locality above Laikom on
the Ijim Ridge, this plant was not recollected until Cameroonian botanist Martin Etuge found seven fruiting
specimens at the Afua swamp in 1996. It has since been found at the Mbesa swamp, the Kinkolong swamp at
the Kilum summit and in the Mbi Crater, but it is not known to occur anywhere else on the planet.
Kniphofia reflexa is the only species of this temperate, horticulturally important genus known from WestCentral Africa. The other 64 species are known from Arabia, down through the mountains of East Africa,
to South Africa and Madagascar. Kniphofia reflexa is a ‘Red Data’ species being officially accepted by
IUCN (The World Conservation Union) as being Endangered (EN C1) globally.
Benedict Pollard & Marzieh Zonouzi
24 August 2000
Life depends on plants