FNPS Plant Database

Aletris lutea

yellow colic-root

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Nomenclature

Common Name:

yellow colic-root

Synonym(s):

Genus species:

Aletris lutea

Family:

Nartheciaceae

Plant Specifics

Form:

flower

Size:

4 ft tall by 0.5 ft wide

Life Span:

short-lived perennial

Flower Color:

yellow

Fruit Color:

Phenology:

Winter dormant. Blooms in spring.

Noted For:

Showy Flowers

Landscaping

Recommended Uses:

Moist wildflower garden. As it is tall and thin, it's best planted as a group toward the rear of other plants.

Considerations:

Availability:

Seed

Propagation:

Seed. If you manage to establish a patch, potentially vegetatively through division of the bulbs. This species is rarely, if ever, cultivated and its specific propagation requirements are not well known. It has a reputation for being difficult to grow.

Light:

Full Sun, Part Shade

Moisture Tolerance:

Always Flooded------------------------------------------------Extremely Dry

-|----|----|----|----|- <------> |----|----|----|----|--

Somewhat moist, no flooding ---to--- Somewhat moist, no flooding

Salt Water Flooding Tolerance:

Not salt tolerant of inundation by salty or brackish water

Salt Spray/Salty Soil Tolerance:

Low/no tolerance of salty wind or direct salt spray

Soil or Other Substrate:

Sand

Soil pH:

acidic sandy or calcareous soils

Suitable to Grow In:

8A, 8B, 9A, 9B, 10A, 10B

USDA zones are based on the average annual extreme minimum winter temperature.



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Ecology

Wildlife:

Bees, Pollinators
Pollinated by bumblebees and beeflies.

Native Habitats:

Open seepage areas, flatwoods, moist ditches

Natural Range in Florida:

Comments:

Ethnobotany:

General Comments:

Citations:

Flower Friday Plant Profile. ( https://www.flawildflowers.org/flower-friday-aletris-lutea/ ) Accessed 2025. (pH range) Florida Wildflower Foundation, Maitland, FL.


North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox. (https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/aletris-lutea/). Accessed 2025.


Sullivan, V. (1973). Biosystematics of Aletris Lutea Small, Aletris obovata Nash, and Natural Hybrids (Liliaceae). Brittonia, 25(3), 294-303. ( https://doi.org/10.2307/2805590 ) Accessed 2025.


Wunderlin, R. P., B. F. Hansen, A. R. Franck, and F. B. Essig. 2022. Atlas of Florida Plants ( https://florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/ ). Institute for Systematic Botany, University of South Florida, Tampa.

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