Aletris

Colicroot
Colicweed
Crow corn
Unicorn root
Aletris farinosa
1811 illustration[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Monocots
Order: Dioscoreales
Family: Nartheciaceae
Genus: Aletris
L.
Synonyms[2]
  • Stachyopogon Klotzsch
  • Meta-aletris Masam.

Aletris, the colicroot, colicweed, crow corn, or unicorn root, is a genus of flowering plants in the Nartheciaceae family, 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. It contains diosgenin, a possible estrogen mimic, and is used as a medicinal plant.

Species

Aletris species include:[2][3][5]

  1. Aletris alpestris Diels. - Guizhou, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan
  2. Aletris aurea Walter - from Texas and Oklahoma to Maryland
  3. Aletris bracteata Northr. - Florida, Bahamas
  4. Aletris capitata F.T.Wang & Tang - Sichuan
  5. Aletris cinerascens F.T.Wang & Tang - Yunnan, Guangxi
  6. Aletris farinosa L. - Ontario and much of eastern United States
  7. Aletris foliata (Maxim.) Makino & Nemoto - Korea, Japan
  8. Aletris foliolosa Stapf - Sumatra, Sabah, Mindoro
  9. Aletris foliosa (Maxim.) Bureau & Franch. - Japan
  10. Aletris glabra Bureau & Franch. - Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim, Tibet, Fujian, Gansu, Guizhou, Hubei, Jiangxi, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Yunnan
  11. Aletris glandulifera Bureau & Franch. - Gansu, Shaanxi, Sichuan
  12. Aletris gracilis Rendle - Nepal, Bhutan, Arunachal Pradesh, Myanmar, Tibet, Yunnan
  13. Aletris laxiflora Bureau & Franch. - Tibet, Sichuan, Guizhou
  14. Aletris lutea Small - Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana
  15. Aletris megalantha F.T.Wang & Tang - Yunnan
  16. Aletris nana S.C.Chen - Tibet, Yunnan, Nepal
  17. Aletris obovata Nash - - Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina
  18. Aletris pauciflora (Klotzsch) Hand.-Mazz - Tibet, Yunnan, Nepal, Bhutan, Assam, Myanmar, northern India
  19. Aletris pedicellata F.T.Wang & Tang - Sichuan
  20. Aletris scopulorum Dunn - Shikoku, Fujian, Guangdong, Hunan, Jiangxi, Zhejiang
  21. Aletris simpliciflora R.Li & Shu D.Zhang - Tibet
  22. Aletris spicata (Thunb.) Franch. - Philippines, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Ryukyu Islands, much of China
  23. Aletris stenoloba Franch. - Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan
  24. Aletris × tottenii E.T.Browne - Georgia (hybrid, A. lutea × A. obovata)
  25. Aletris yaanica G.H.Yang - Sichuan

References

  1. ↑ Curtis's Botanical Magazine v. 34 (1811)
  2. 1 2 3 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  3. 1 2 Flora of China, Vol. 24 Page 77, 粉条儿菜属 fen tiao er cai shu, Aletris Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 319. 1753.
  4. ↑ Flora of North America, Vol. 26 Page 64, Aletris Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 319. 1753; Gen. Pl. ed. 5, 149. 1754.
  5. ↑ Biota of North America Program, 2013 county distribution maps
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