Red-hot pokers are grown in temperate gardens around the world. Ranging in colour from reds, oranges through yellow to lime green and cream, numerous cultivars and hybrids have been developed from species originating in South Africa.

Most species of Kniphofia are evergreen while a few are deciduous and sprout again in the early summer.

Kniphofia spp. occur naturally in all the nine provinces of South Africa. KwaZulu-Natal possesses the highest number of Kniphofia species, compared to the other provinces with ± 40 to 50 species. Kniphofia also occurs in Lesotho, Swaziland and northward towards Sudan. The species diversity, however, decreases as one moves north.

Most Kniphofia species are found growing near rivers or in places where conditions will become damp or marshy for part of the year. A small number of species prefer dry conditions with good drainage.

Kniphofia form large clumps of arching leaves which are long, narrow and tapering. The leaves are non-succulent, unlike the leaves of aloes. This distinguishes them from a plant such as Aloe cooperi. The leaf surface is glabrous (smooth) in all but one species, namely, K. hirsuta.

They bear dense, erect spikes (elongated inflorescence with stalkless flowers) above the level of the leaves in either winter or summer depending on the species. The small, tubular flowers are produced in shades of red, orange, yellow and cream.