Aletris lutea

Distribution Map: Based on vouchered plant specimens only. View county names by placing the mouse cursor over a particular county.

Family:	NARTHECIACEAE
Species:	Aletris lutea Small
Common Name:	Yellow Colic Root
Habitat:	**
Associated Ecological Communities:	**
Growth Habit:	Herb
Duration:	Perennial
Category:	Vascular
USDA Symbol:	**
Plant Notes:	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
Taxonomic Notes:	**
Status:	Native, FACW+ (NWI)
References:	**
Specimen:	View specimen details in the Alabama Herbarium Consortium Specimen Database

** Not applicable or data not available.

Classification

Family	NARTHECIACEAE - Bog Asphodel family
Genus	Aletris
Species	Aletris lutea Small - Yellow Colic Root

Citation

Citation	Aletris lutea Small, Bull. New York Bot. Gard. 1(4): 278–279. 1899.
Basionym:	**
Type:	**

** Not applicable or data not available.

Synonyms

No synonyms exist for this species.

No synonyms exist for this species.

Specimens and Distribution

This species has been reported in the following counties by the herbaria listed. An overview of the individual specimens are provided in the table that follows. Click on the accession number to view details; click on column headers to sort; choose a county or herbaria to filter the specimen data.

Counties included on distribution map: Baldwin, Bullock, Covington, Geneva, Houston, Lee, Mobile

Herbaria represented by specimen data listed below: ALNHS, AMAL, AUA, JSU, SAMF, TROY, UNA, USAM, UWAL

Range of years during which specimens were collected: 1952 - 1980

Barcode / Accession No.	County	Coll. Date	Collector & Collection No.	Herbarium & Herbarium Name Used
SAMF0000443	Mobile	09 May 1964	Deramus, Rebecca 397	SAMF Aletris lutea Small
AUA_ACC_46858	Baldwin	2 May 1981	Floyd, Ed 075	AUA Aletris Lutea Small
UNA00015074	Baldwin	12 Apr 1952	Chermock, Ralph L. s.n.	UNA Aletris lutea Small
ALNHS00000177	Mobile	31 May 1998	Spaulding, Daniel D. 10260	ALNHS Aletris lutea Small
UWAL0034340	Houston	07 May 1995	Kral, Robert 84536	UWAL Aletris lutea Small
UNA00015077	Mobile	09 May 1964	Deramus, Rebecca 397	UNA Aletris lutea Small
SAMF0000441	Baldwin	09 May 2008	Davenport, Lawrence J. 3821	SAMF Aletris lutea Small
JSU101375	Mobile	16 May 1974	Whetstone, R. David 2611	JSU Aletris lutea Small
AMAL00010969	Houston	09 Jun 1996	MacDonald, John R. 9582	AMAL Aletris lutea Small
AUA_ACC_37968	Baldwin	27 Apr 1982	Jones, T.R.	AUA Aletris Lutea Small
JSU101372	Baldwin	13 May 1973	Lynn, David 157	JSU Aletris lutea Small
JSU101374	Mobile	16 May 1974	Whetstone, R. David 2611	JSU Aletris lutea Small
AMAL00001111	Geneva	26 May 2001	Kral, Robert 91161	AMAL Aletris lutea Small
AUA_ACC_1771	Lee	30 Apr 1949	Beshears, Jr., W.W.	AUA Aletris Lutea Small
AUA_ACC_2146	Baldwin	15 May 1964	Creel, John	AUA Aletris Lutea Small
TROY000011097	Baldwin	12 May 2000	Kral, Robert 89755	TROY Aletris lutea Small
AUA_ACC_1772	Baldwin	18 Apr 1953	Scott, C.E.	AUA Aletris Lutea Small
UWAL0004670	Baldwin	25 Apr 2009	England, J. Kevin 2007	UWAL Aletris lutea Small
UNA00015076	Mobile	_ May _	Mohr, Charles s.n.	UNA Aletris lutea Small
AUA_ACC_14031	Baldwin	29 Apr 1967	Rankin, H.Taylor 158	AUA Aletris Lutea Small
USAM000011166	Mobile	28 May 2004	Zebryk, Tad 8546	USAM Aletris lutea Small
TROY000011098	Geneva	26 May 2001	Kral, Robert 91161	TROY Aletris lutea Small
AUA_ACC_19778	Baldwin	3 May 1969	Moore, Harold D. 157-69	AUA Aletris Lutea Small
AUA_ACC_10793	Baldwin	11 May 1963	Keyes, J.W.	AUA Aletris Lutea Small
UWAL0034286	Geneva	21 Jul 1991	Kral, Robert 79391	UWAL Aletris lutea Small
AUA_ACC_46430	Bullock	13 May 1978	Mason, Hugh 114	AUA Aletris Lutea Small
AUA_ACC_57199	Mobile	2 Jun 1972	Kral, Robert 47110	AUA Aletris Lutea Small
AMAL00001110	Baldwin	12 May 2000	Kral, Robert 89755	AMAL Aletris lutea Small
UNA00015073	Baldwin	24 May 1980	Haynes, Robert R. 7795	UNA Aletris lutea Small
ALNHS00000289	Mobile	04 Jun 1998	Crow, D.G. s.n.	ALNHS Aletris lutea Small
UWAL0019007	Geneva	24 Jun 1991	Kral, Robert 79083	UWAL Aletris lutea Small
AUA_ACC_7388	Baldwin	3 May 1958	Ellis, Don M.	AUA Aletris Lutea Small
UWAL0030609	Covington	04 May 1988	Kral, Robert 74667	UWAL Aletris lutea Small
UWAL0018440	Houston	21 Jul 1991	Kral, Robert 79381	UWAL Aletris lutea Small
AUA_ACC_14920	Baldwin	3 May 1969	Roberson, B.J. 148	AUA Aletris Lutea Small
AUA_ACC_71080	Mobile	4 Jun 1998	C, D G VI 26	AUA Aletris Lutea Small
TROY000030659	Baldwin	18 Apr 1953	Scott, C.E. s.n.	TROY Aletris lutea Small
UNA00015095	Geneva	26 Apr 1967	McDaniel, Sidney 8771	UNA Aletris lutea Small
AUA_ACC_32526	Baldwin	11 May 1974	Skelton, M. 151	AUA Aletris Lutea Small
JSU101373	Baldwin	03 Jun 1972	Kral, Robert 47174	JSU Aletris lutea Small
AUA_ACC_13648	Baldwin	29 Apr 1967	Dent, D.M.	AUA Aletris Lutea Small

View a List of All Ecological Communities

For more information, contact: Brian R. Keener, Ph.D.

Data last modified: 11/9/2024

Web Development: The Florida Center for Community Design + Research

A member of the University of South Florida family of PlantAtlas.org sites

Citation Information:

Keener, B.R., A.R. Diamond, T.W. Barger, L.J. Davenport, P.G. Davison, S.L. Ginzbarg, C.J. Hansen, D.D. Spaulding, J.K. Triplett, and M. Woods. 2024. Alabama Plant Atlas. [S.M. Landry and K.N. Campbell (original application development), Florida Center for Community Design and Research. University of South Florida]. University of West Alabama, Livingston, Alabama.

Data, text, and images licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Aletris lutea

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Classification

Citation

Synonyms

Specimens and Distribution