Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

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Krascheninnikovia lanata (Pursh ) A. Meeuse & A. Smit

[=Ceratoides lanata (Pursh ) J. T. Howell]

Gove County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 6-20 inches

Family: Amaranthaceae - Amaranth Family

Flowering Period: May, June, July

Stems:

Shrubs, monoecious. Stems erect, usually branched basally, densely white- or golden-brown-tomentose with some stellate hairs.

Leaves:

Cauline, alternate, simple; petiole 1/16 to 1/7 inch; blade linear to narrowly lanceolate, 2/5 to 1.6 inch long, 1/16 to 1/6 inch wide, base truncate, margins entire, revolute, tip obtuse, without spine-like bristle, densely white- or golden-brown-tomentose with some stellate hairs.

Inflorescences:

Spikes or small, dense, head-like clusters of 2-8 minute flowers, axillary; bracts 0 with staminate flowers, 2 with pistillate flowers, ovate, 1/6 to 1/3 inch, densely hirsute, without spine-like bristle at tip.

Flowers:

Flowers unisexual, petals absent. Staminate flowers: tepals 4, united basally, white, lobes ovate, 1/50 to 1/25 inch, apex acute, woolly outside, glabrous inside; stamens 4. Pistillate flowers: tepals 0, pistil enclosed in bracteoles; style 0; stigmas 2.

Fruits:

Utricles, flattened-ovoid, 1/10 to 1/7 inch, enclosed in 2 bracts; bracts covered with dense tufts of long, white hairs; seeds brown, flattened-obovoid, 1/12 to 1/10 inch.

Habitat:

Mixed-grass and short-grass prairies

Distribution:

North half of west 1/6 of Kansas

Origin:

Native

Forage Value:

Provides good winter forage for sheep, pronghorn antelope, elk, and mule deer.

Uses:

Native Americans took a decoction of leaves for fevers, used the decoction as a hair wash, and used the cold decoction as a wash for sore eyes; treated burns with the powdered roots; and applied a poultice of chewed leaves to poison ivy rash.

Comments:

Named for Russian professor S. P. Krascheninnikova.

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