Aletris farinosa

Unicorn root
Aletris farinosa[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Monocots
Order:	Dioscoreales
Family:	Nartheciaceae
Genus:	Aletris
Species:	A. farinosa
Binomial name
Aletris farinosa L.
Synonyms[2]
Aletris alba Michx. Aletris lucida Raf.

Aletris farinosa, called the Unicorn root, crow-corn, white colic-root or white stargrass, is a plant species found across much of the eastern United States. It has also been reported from the southern part of Ontario, Canada. It is known from every state east of the Mississippi River except Vermont, as well as Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.^[3][4]

Aletris farinosa is a perennial herb spreading by means of underground rhizomes and forming rosettes of leaves. Leaves are narrow, up to 20 cm long, bright yellowish-green. Flowering stalks can be as much as 100 cm tall. Flowers are white, up to 10 mm long. Fruit is a dry capsule tapering at the tip.^{[3][5][6][7][8]}

References

1. 1811 illustration by Sydenham Edwards, published in Curtis's Botanical Magazine v. 34
2. The Plant list, Aletris farinosa
3. Flora of North America v 26 p 65, Aletris farinosa
4. BONAP (Biota of North America Project), 2014 county distribution map, Aletris farinosa
5. Linnaeus, Carl von. 1753. Species Plantarum 1: 319.
6. Gleason, H. A. & A.J. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of the Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada (ed. 2) i–910. New York Botanical Garden, Bronx.
7. Radford, A. E., H. E. Ahles & C. R. Bell. 1968. Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas i–lxi, 1–1183. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill.
8. Voss, E. G. 1972. Gymnosperms and Monocots. i–xv, 1–488. In Michigan Flora. Cranbrook Institute of Science, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.