Overview
Interesting Facts
Common Names
Common Names in English:
Yellow Colic-Root, Yellow Colicroot
Description
Genus Aletris
Herbs, perennial
, scapose
, rhizomatous
. Leaves in dense basal rosettes, clasping
erect
branches; blade
narrowly linear
to lanceolate, oblanceolate
, linear-elliptic, or elliptic
, flat, leathery, distal margins
fused to form subulate
tips
. Scape 2-10 dm. Inflorescences racemose. Flowers each subtended by 2 subulate, unequal bracts, short-pedicellate; perianth white, yellow, or golden orange, cylindrical, campanulate
, or obovoid
, abaxial
surfaces rough; tepals 6, connate
basally; stamens 6, included
; filaments
adnate
to perianth; anthers
oblong-lanceolate, longer
than filaments; ovary half inferior with proximal
portions of perianth adnate at maturity; style 3-branched at apex. Fruits capsular
, 3-locular, beaked
. Seeds amber, deeply sulcate
, ellipsoid
to ovoid
, 0.5-0.8 mm, lustrous
.
Species ca.
25: North America, West Indies (Bahamas), eastern Asia.
Some species of Aletris (e.g.
, A. lutea and A. obovata) are quickly eliminated unless habitats
are occasionally burned or otherwise kept clear of undergrowth.[1]
Physical Description
Species Aletris lutea
Leaves 7-18 × 1-2.6 cm; blade
bright green, linear
to lanceolate.
Scape 5-10 dm. Flowers: perianth usually yellow to golden yellow,
rarely white, cylindrical, 9-12 mm, more than 2.5 times as long as
broad, lobes
spreading
. Fruits: beaks
gradually narrowed distally.
2n = 26. [source]
A white-flowered form of Aletris lutea was described as forma albiflora
E. T. Browne. Hybrids of A. lutea × obovata occur commonly
in intermixed populations and have pale
yellow corollas of intermediate
shape
(V. I. Sullivan 1973). These hybrids have been named as A.
×tottenii E. T. Browne. [source]
Habit: Forb/herb
Flowers: Bloom Period: February, March, April. • Flower Color: yellow
Size/Age/Growth
Size: 18-24" tall.
Habitat
Seasonally wet to flooded pine flatwoods, savannas , bogs ; 0 m (Ref. 51449).
Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 223 meters (0 to 732 feet).[2]
Biology
Reproduction
Duration: Perennial
Growth
Culture: Space 9-12" apart.
Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full Sun .
Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b, 10a, 10b, 11. (map)
Taxonomy
- Domain:
Eukaryota
(
)
- eukaryotes
- Kingdom:
Plantae
()
- Haeckel, 1866
- Plants
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
()
- Cavalier-Smith, 1981
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
()
- Sinnott, 1935 ex Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Vascular Plants
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
()
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
()
- Kenrick & Crane, 1997
- Class:
Spermatopsida
()
- Brongniart, 1843
- Subclass:
Liliidae
()
- Takhtajan, 1967
- Superorder:
Lilianae
()
- Takhtajan, 1967
- Order:
Dioscoreales
()
- J.D. Hooker, in Le Maout & Decaisne, 1873
- Family:
Nartheciaceae
()
- Fr. ex Bjurzon, 1846
- Genus:
Aletris
()
- C. Linnaeus, 1753
- Colic-root, stargrass [Greek aletris, a female slave who ground corn, alluding to the mealy texture of the perianths]
- Specific epithet:
lutea
- Small
- Botanical name: - Aletris lutea Small
- Specific epithet:
lutea
- Small
- Genus:
Aletris
(
- Family:
Nartheciaceae
(
- Order:
Dioscoreales
(
- Superorder:
Lilianae
(
- Subclass:
Liliidae
(
- Class:
Spermatopsida
(
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
(
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
(
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
(
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
(
- Kingdom:
Plantae
(
Notes
Publishing author : Small Publication : Bull . New York Bot. Gard. 1: 278 1899
Similar Species
Members of the genus Aletris
ZipcodeZoo has pages for 7 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:
A. aurea (Golden Colic-Root) · A. bracteata (Bracted Colicroot) · A. farinosa (Ague Root) · A. lutea (Yellow Colic-Root) · A. obovata (Southern Colicroot) · A. tottenii (Totten's Colicroot) · A. × tottenii (Totten's Colicroot)
More Info
- Search for Pictures: images.google.com
- Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
- Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
- Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books
Further Reading
- Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. New York, New York Academy of Sciences. url p. 259.
- Annual report / Florida State Geological Survey. Tallahassee, Fla.: Capital Pub. Co., state printer, url p. 139, p. 207, p. 251, p. 289, p. 324, p. 333.
- Britton, N. L. (ed.). North American flora. 7 1920 [New York]New York Botanical Garden. url p. 378, p. 852.
- Bulletin / U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Plant Industry. Washington: G.P.O., 1901-1913. url p. 20, p. 69.
- Bulletin of the New York Botanical Garden. 1 1899 Lancaster, Pa.: Published for the Garden by the New Era Printing Co., url p. 278.
- Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club. 32 1905 New York: Torrey Botanical Club, 1870-1996 url p. 154, p. 463.
- Flora of the southeastern United States; being descriptions of the seed-plants, ferns and fern-allies growing naturally in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, and in Oklahom by John Kunkel Small. New York, The author, 1913. url p. 285, p. 285, p. 286.
- Florida wild flowers; an introduction to the flora of the Florida peninsula, by Mary Francis Baker, photographs by the author. New York, The Macmillan company, 1926. url p. 46.
- Journal of the New York Botanical Garden. 24 1923 Lancaster, Pa.: Published for the Garden by the New Era Printing Co., 1900- url p. 245, p. 317.
- Manual of the southeastern flora: being descriptions of the seed plants growing naturally in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, eastern Louisiana, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. 1933 New York: The author, 1933. url p. 315.
- Phytologia. Bronx Park, New York, H.A. Gleason and H.N. Moldenke, url p. 120, p. 218, p. 365, p. 367.
- Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington. Washington, etc.: Entomological Society of Washington url p. 516, p. 521.
- The Plant world. Baltimore [etc.]Plant World Association [etc.] url p. 92.
- The vegetation of south Florida south of 27 30 north, exclusive of the Florida keys, by John W. Harshberger. Philadelphia, Wagner Free Institute of Science, 1914. url p. 173.
- Torreya. Burlington, Vt., Torrey Botanical Club, 1901-1945. url p. 101.
- Transactions of the Wagner Free Institute of Science of Philadelphia. 7 1910 Philadelphia: Wagner Free Institute of Science of Philadelphia, 1887-1927. url p. 173.
- Sullivan, V. I. 1973. Biosystematics of Aletris lutea Small, Aletris obovata Nash and natural hybrids. Brittonia 25: 294-303.
Notes
Contributors
- Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 10, 2012.
Data Sources
Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 15, 2007:
- USDA PLANTS, USDA PLANTS Database
- University of Alabama Biodiversity and Systematics, Herbarium
Identifiers
- Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2662444
- Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: Kew-294717
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 13754638
- Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:8312-2
- Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 42770
- International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 8312-2
- Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: PMLIL01040
- U.S.D.A. Plant Symbol: ALLU
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 20364
Footnotes
- Victoria I. Sullivan "Aletris". in Flora of North America Vol. 26 Page 51, 55, 56, 57, 64, 65, 67. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
- Mean = 28.590 meters (93.799 feet), Standard Deviation = 44.400 based on 97 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
