Aletris spicata - Spiked Colic-Root

Spiked Colic-Root is a perennial herb with leaves numerous, densely clustered, linear, 5-30 cm x 2-4 mm. Flowering stems are 15-70 cm, carrying raceme 5-35 cm, laxly 10-80-flowered; axis densely velvet-hairy. Flowers are nearly stalkless; flower-stalk absent to 1-2 mm, densely velvet-hairy; bract and bracteole borne on distal part of flower-stalk, linear-lanceshaped, proximally velvet-hairy. Bracts are 4-8 mm, shorter than or equaling flower (sometimes a few bracts at base of raceme up to 2 x flower length, rarely all bracts exceeding flowers), tip pointed. Flowers are white, yellowish white, or yellowish green, sometimes striped or at tip tinged pink, 4-7 mm, densely velvet-hairy, rarely sparsely so; tube oblong-urn-shaped; tepals erect, linear-lanceshaped, 1.5-3 x about 0.5 mm, usually about equalling tube length or shorter, tip pointed. Capsules are top-shaped, obovoid, or oblong-obovoid, distinctly angular, 3-5 x 2-3 mm, abruptly constricted distally when split, tip of valves gradually narrowed; style about 1 mm; stigma not or only slightly thickened. Spiked Colic-Root is found in hina North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, Japan, Korea, Nansei-shoto, Philippines, Taiwan. We found it growing wild in Manipur. Flowering: March-August.