Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

RATANY

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Krameria lanceolata Torr.

Morton County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: Decumbent or prostrate

Family: Krameriaceae - Ratany Family

Flowering Period: May, June, July

Also Called:

Trailing ratany, prairie bur.

Stems:

Decumbent or trailing, numerous, 8 to 40 inches long, silky-hairy.

Leaves:

Alternate, simple, linear to elliptic, 1/5 to 4/5 inch long; surfaces silky-hairy, margins entire; tips pointed or usually with a short, brownish spine.

Inflorescences:

Solitary flowers in leaf axils; stalks 1/5 to 1.2 inch long, pubescent.

Flowers:

Sepals 4 or 5, distinct, conspicuous, ovate-lanceolate, 1/3 to 2/5 inch long, unequal, wine-red to reddish-brown, pubescent; petals 5 unequal; upper 3 long-clawed, red or purplish; lower 2 small, thick, sessile, greenish; stamens 4.

Fruits:

Spherical, 1/4 to 1/3 inch in diameter, woolly, 1-seeded, covered with sharp prickles.

Habitat:

Dry, rocky prairie hillsides, ravines, and roadsides; rocky, gravelly or sandy soils.

Distribution:

South 1/4 of Kansas.

Comments:

There is only one genus in this New World family. Ratany is partially parasitic. It forms small suckers that penetrate the roots of nearby plants.

Ratany