View source for Aletris

{{Treatment/ID
|accepted_name=Aletris
|accepted_authority=Linnaeus
|publications={{Treatment/Publication
|title=Sp. Pl.
|place=1: 319. 1753
|year=1753
}}, {{Treatment/Publication
|title=Gen. Pl. ed.
|place=5, 149. 1754
|year=1754
}}
|common_names=Colic-root;stargrass
|basionyms=
|synonyms=
|hierarchy=Liliaceae;Aletris
|hierarchy_nav=<div class="higher-taxa"><div class="higher-taxon"><small>family</small>[[Liliaceae]]</div><div class="higher-taxon"><small>genus</small>[[Aletris]]</div></div>
|etymology=Greek aletris, a female slave who ground corn, alluding to the mealy texture of the perianths
|volume=Volume 26
|mention_page=page 51, 55, 56, 57, 65, 67
|treatment_page=page 64
}}<!--

--><span class="statement" id="st-undefined" data-properties=""><b>Herbs,</b> perennial, scapose, rhizomatous. <b>Leaves</b> 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. <b>Scape</b> 2–10 dm. <b>Inflorescences</b> racemose. <b>Flowers</b> 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. <b>Fruits</b> capsular, 3-locular, beaked. <b>Seeds</b> amber, deeply sulcate, ellipsoid to ovoid, 0.5–0.8 mm, lustrous.</span><!--

-->{{Treatment/Body
|distribution=North America;West Indies (Bahamas);eastern Asia.
|discussion=<p>Species ca. 25 (5 in the flora).</p><!--
--><p>Some species of <i>Aletris</i> (e.g., <i>A. lutea</i> and <i>A. obovata</i>) are quickly eliminated unless habitats are occasionally burned or otherwise kept clear of undergrowth.</p>
|tables=
|references={{Treatment/Reference
|id=sullivan1973a
|text=Sullivan, V. I. 1973. Biosystematics of Aletris lutea Small, Aletris obovata Nash and natural hybrids. Brittonia 25: 294–303.
}}
}}<!--

--><div class="treatment-key">
==Key==
<div class="treatment-key-group">
  
{| class="wikitable fna-keytable"
|-id=key-0-1
|1
|Perianth usually wholly yellow to golden yellow, rarely white.
|[[#key-0-2| > 2]]
|-id=key-0-1
|1
|Perianth white to creamy white, lobes sometimes tipped with orange or pinkish orange.
|[[#key-0-3| > 3]]
|-id=key-0-2
|2
|Perianth cylindrical, 9–12 mm, more than 2.5 times as long as broad, lobes spreading.
|[[Aletris lutea|Aletris lutea]]
|-id=key-0-2
|2
|Perianth campanulate, 6–7 mm, 2 times or less as long as broad, lobes erect.
|[[Aletris aurea|Aletris aurea]]
|-id=key-0-3
|3
|Perianth campanulate or obovoid, lobes turned slightly inward.
|[[Aletris obovata|Aletris obovata]]
|-id=key-0-3
|3
|Perianth cylindrical, lobes spreading.
|[[#key-0-4| > 4]]
|-id=key-0-4
|4
|Leaves dull grayish green, 0.6–1 cm wide; beaks of fruits gradually tapering from body to tip.
|[[Aletris bracteata|Aletris bracteata]]
|-id=key-0-4
|4
|Leaves bright yellowish green, 0.5–2.6 cm wide; beaks of fruits abruptly narrowed distally.
|[[Aletris farinosa|Aletris farinosa]]
|}
</div></div><!--

-->{{#Taxon:
name=Aletris
|author=Victoria I. Sullivan
|authority=Linnaeus
|rank=genus
|parent rank=family
|synonyms=
|basionyms=
|family=Liliaceae
|illustrator=Barbara Alongi
|illustration copyright=Flora of North America Association
|distribution=North America;West Indies (Bahamas);eastern Asia.
|reference=sullivan1973a
|publication title=Sp. Pl.;Gen. Pl. ed.
|publication year=1753;1754
|special status=
|source xml=https://bitbucket.org/aafc-mbb/fna-data-curation/src/2e0870ddd59836b60bcf96646a41e87ea5a5943a/coarse_grained_fna_xml/V26/V26_37.xml
|genus=Aletris
}}<!--

-->[[Category:Treatment]][[Category:Liliaceae]]