Aletris lutea Small

Yellow Colic Root

Herb

Perennial

Vascular

Yellow Colic Root is a native perennial in the Bog Asphodel family (Nartheciaceae). For many years it was placed in the Lily family (Liliaceae). It occurs in the southern most counties of Alabama. Yellow Colic Root grows in bogs, in wet sandy pine woods, and in seeps. It is a perennial from a short rhizome. The plant is scapose (lacking a leafy stem), and consists of a basal rosette of linear, leathery, grass like leaves. The flowers are produced in a raceme. The flowering stalks are from one to three feet in height. Flowers are cylindrical, more than 2 1/2 times as long as broad, with spreading lobes. The tepals (petals and sepals) are yellow or rarely white in color and have a “mealy” surface. The fruit is a capsule. Aletris was the name of a legendary female slave who ground grain into meal. The roughened texture of the tepals is reminiscent of coarsely ground meal and led to the naming of this genus. Lutea means “Yellow”. A second yellow flowered species found in Alabama is the Golden Colic Root (Aletris aurea Walter). It is found in the southern half of the state and differs in having a later flowering period and by having a shorter, more campanulate corolla. Yellow Colic Root is difficult to maintain in cultivation, and is rarely offered for sale. It requires full sun and moist soil, but does not like standing water. It can sometimes be cultivated in a bog garden.--A. Diamond

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Native FACW+ (NWPL)

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