Aletris gracilis Rendle

The type of Aletris gracilis corresponds with A. stelliflora not A. laxiflora as given in FRPS, so the name A. gracilis has priority over A. stelliflora which was described in 1936. Aletris gracilis is easily distinguished from A. laxiflora by its completely glabrous raceme rachis and pedicels.

Plant glabrous throughout. Rhizome surrounded by a dense collar of persistent fibers from disintegrated leaf bases. Leaves 5 to numerous, usually laxly tufted, linear, 2--20 cm × 2--7(--9) mm. Scape 7--40 cm. Raceme 2--15 cm, not covered with viscid secretion, laxly 5--40-flowered. Flowers distinctly pedicellate; pedicel 1--10 mm; bract borne at or near base of pedicel, narrowly lanceolate, 3--9(--16) mm, shorter than flower (rarely a few bracts at base of raceme slightly longer than flower), apex obtuse to subacute; bracteole borne on proximal 1/2 of pedicel above bract. Perianth yellowish, whitish, or pinkish, 4--5 mm; tube broadly funnelform; lobes strongly recurved or revolute, narrowly oblong or oblong, 2--3 × ca. 1 mm, 1.5--2 × tube length, apex obtuse to rounded or truncate. Capsule narrowly ovoid, 4.5--7 × 2.5--3.5 mm, apex of valves abruptly narowed; style 0.5--2 mm; stigma conspicuously thickened, capitate. Fl. Jul--Sep, fr. Sep--Oct.

Himalaya (E. Nepal to Bhutan), Burma, S.E. Tibet.

SE Xizang, NW Yunnan [Bhutan, NE India, N Myanmar, Sikkim].

3000-3200 m

Alpine swamps, alpine grasslands, bamboo thickets, thicket margins, grassy cliffs, rocks; 2500--3900 m.

Aletris stelliflora Handel-Mazzetti.

Flowering from July to September; fruiting from September to October.

Aletris gracilis is close relative of Aletris cinerascens, but differs from the latter in its rhizome surrounded by mass of fibers from disintegrated leaf bases (vs. not surrounded by mass of fibers but sometimes by persistent, dead leaves), capsule with persistent stigma conspicuously thickened and capitate (vs. not or only slightly thickened).

Aletris gracilis is occurring in SE Xizang, NW Yunnan of China, Bhutan, NE India, N Myanmar, Sikkim.

Plant glabrous throughout. Rhizome surrounded by a dense collar of persistent fibers from disintegrated leaf bases. Leaves 5 to numerous, usually laxly tufted, linear, 2-20 cm long, 2-7 mm wide. Scape 7-40 cm. Raceme 2-15 cm, not covered with viscid secretion, laxly 5-40-flowered. Flowers distinctly pedicellate; pedicel 1-10 mm; bract borne at or near base of pedicel, narrowly lanceolate, 3-9 mm, shorter than flower (rarely a few bracts at base of raceme slightly longer than flower), apex obtuse to subacute; bracteole borne on proximal 1/2 of pedicel above bract. Perianth yellowish, whitish, or pinkish, 4-5 mm; tube broadly funnelform; lobes strongly recurved or revolute, narrowly oblong or oblong, 2-3 × ca. 1 mm, 1.5-2 × tube length, apex obtuse to rounded or truncate. Capsule narrowly ovoid, 4.5-7 mm long, 2.5-3.5 mm wide, apex of valves abruptly narowed; style 0.5-2 mm; stigma conspicuously thickened, capitate.

Growing in alpine swamps, alpine grasslands, bamboo thickets, thicket margins, grassy cliffs, rocks; 2500-3900 m.

Aletris gracilis là một loài thực vật có hoa trong họ Nartheciaceae. Loài này được Rendle mô tả khoa học đầu tiên năm 1906.