Aletris, the colicroot, colicweed, crow corn, or unicorn root, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Nartheciaceae, native to North America and to eastern and southeastern Asia, especially China.[2][3][4] It was used as a component in Lydia Pinkham's original Vegetable Compound.[citation needed]
| Aletris | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Aletris farinosa 1811 illustration[1] | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Embryophytes |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Spermatophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Dioscoreales |
| Family: | Nartheciaceae |
| Genus: | Aletris L. |
| Species | |
|
See text | |
| Synonyms[2] | |
| |
Species
editAletris species include:[2][3][5]
- Aletris alpestris Diels. - Guizhou, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan
- Aletris aurea Walter - from Texas and Oklahoma to Maryland
- Aletris bracteata Northr. - Florida, Bahamas
- Aletris capitata F.T.Wang & Tang - Sichuan
- Aletris cinerascens F.T.Wang & Tang - Yunnan, Guangxi
- Aletris farinosa L. - Ontario and much of eastern United States
- Aletris foliata (Maxim.) Makino & Nemoto - Korea, Japan
- Aletris foliolosa Stapf - Sumatra, Sabah, Mindoro
- Aletris foliosa (Maxim.) Bureau & Franch. - Japan
- Aletris glabra Bureau & Franch. - Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim, Tibet, Fujian, Gansu, Guizhou, Hubei, Jiangxi, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Yunnan
- Aletris glandulifera Bureau & Franch. - Gansu, Shaanxi, Sichuan
- Aletris gracilis Rendle - Nepal, Bhutan, Arunachal Pradesh, Myanmar, Tibet, Yunnan
- Aletris laxiflora Bureau & Franch. - Tibet, Sichuan, Guizhou
- Aletris lutea Small - Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana
- Aletris medogensis Li, X. (2026)[6]
- Aletris megalantha F.T.Wang & Tang - Yunnan
- Aletris nana S.C.Chen - Tibet, Yunnan, Nepal
- Aletris obovata Nash - - Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina
- Aletris pauciflora (Klotzsch) Hand.-Mazz - Tibet, Yunnan, Nepal, Bhutan, Assam, Myanmar, northern India
- Aletris pedicellata F.T.Wang & Tang - Sichuan
- Aletris scopulorum Dunn - Shikoku, Fujian, Guangdong, Hunan, Jiangxi, Zhejiang
- Aletris simpliciflora R.Li & Shu D.Zhang - Tibet
- Aletris spicata (Thunb.) Franch. - Philippines, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Ryukyu Islands, much of China
- Aletris stenoloba Franch. - Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan
- Aletris × tottenii E.T.Browne - Georgia (hybrid, A. lutea × A. obovata)
- Aletris yaanica G.H.Yang - Sichuan
References
edit- ↑ Curtis's Botanical Magazine v. 34 (1811)
- 1 2 3 "World Checklist of Selected Plant Families: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew". apps.kew.org. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
- 1 2 "Aletris in Flora of China @ efloras.org". www.efloras.org. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
- ↑ "Aletris in Flora of North America @ efloras.org". www.efloras.org. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
- ↑ Biota of North America Program, 2013 county distribution maps
- ↑ Li, X., Qiu, Y. L., Li, J. T., Xu, B., Yu, Q., & Ju, W. B. (2026). Integrating morphology and chloroplast genomics: A new East Asian species of Aletris (Nartheciaceae) with insights into regional phylogeny and evolution. Ecology and Evolution, 16(1), e72654. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.72654