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Aletris farinosa
Also called Unicorn Root, Colicroot, Agueroot, Crow Corn, Mealy Star Grass, Mealy Starwort, White Star Grass
White colicroot is a perennial herb of the eastern United States that spreads by underground rhizomes and forms rosettes of narrow leaves, with tall stalks of small white flowers. It needs moist, peaty or sandy soil and does best with cool winters and consistent moisture.
Aletris farinosa, called the unicorn root, true unicorn, 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. Its native habitats include moist peaty, sandy or gravelly areas.
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.
Golden colicroot · Bracted colicroot · Yellow colicroot · Southern colicroot · Colicroot
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Aletris farinosa by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
