Spiked Aletris (Aletris spicata)

Family: Liliaceae | Edibility: Edible (1/5)

Aletris spicata is a PERENNIAL growing to 0.3 m (1ft). It is in flower from March to August, and the seeds ripen from May to August. The species is hermaphrodite (has both male and female organs). Suitable for: light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils and prefers well-drained soil. Suitable pH: mildly acid and neutral soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers moist soil.

Edible Parts & Harvest Seasons

Edible Parts: Leaves

Harvest Seasons: Early Summer, Spring

Flavor & Culinary Uses

Young leaves - cooked. A famine food, used when all else fails. — Young leaves - cooked.; A famine food, used when all else fails.

Habitat & North American Range

Hills and low mountains in C. and S. Japan. Forests, thicket margins, scrub, grasslands, streamsides, roadsides at elevations of 100 - 2900 metres in China. (Zone 4, Zone 5, Zone 6, Zone 7, Zone 8)