Features: Colicroot (Aletris farinosa) is a low-growing perennial herb characteristic of open dry habitats associated with tall-grass prairies. The plant produces a tall flower stalk with white tubular flowers in summer. In herbal medicine the underground rhizome is crushed and made into a tonic for the treatment of indigestion and rheumatism.

Status: Threatened Provincially and Nationally

Range: The range of Colicroot extends from southern Ontario east to the Atlantic coast, south to the Gulf states and west to Texas. In Canada, it only occurs in southwestern Ontario. Range Maps

Threats: Colicroot is a colonizing species and depends on the creation and maintenance of open sites through burning and disturbance. Current threats to the Ontario populations include natural plant succession, which results in the establishment of shrubs in open habitats. Historically, the conversion of tall grass prairie to farmland was the biggest factor in the decline of Colicroot in Ontario.

Protection: Most sites in which Colicroot occurs in the province are on private land. The Natural Heritage component of the Provincial Policy Statement under Ontario's Planning Act provides for the protection of significant habitat of threatened species. Prescribed burns are essential for this species' persistence, and populations on Walpole Island appear to have benefitted from regular burns. Nursery propagation of Colicroot has failed to date, perhaps because the plants may depend on specific mycorrhizal fungi associations in the soil. Protection provided by Ontario's Endangered Species Act 2007 prohibits actions such as killing, possessing, selling or trading of the wild Colicroot plant.

Text Sources: Kirk 1988

Last Modified Date: October 2008