Krascheninnikovia lanata | |
---|---|
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Order: | Caryophyllales |
Family: | Amaranthaceae |
Genus: | Krascheninnikovia |
Species: | K. lanata |
Binomial name | |
Krascheninnikovia lanata (Pursh) A.Meeuse & Smit | |
Synonyms | |
Ceratoides lanata(Pursh) J.T. Howell |
Krascheninnikovia lanata is a species of flowering plant currently placed in the family Amaranthaceae (previously, Chenopodiaceae), known by the common names winterfat, white sage, and wintersage. [1] It is native to much of western North America: from central Western Canada; through the Western United States; to northern Mexico. [2] [3]
The genus was named for Stepan Krasheninnikov—the early 18th-century Russian botanist and explorer of Siberia and Kamchatka.
Winterfat grows in a great variety of habitats at 100–2,700 metres (330–8,860 ft) in elevation—from grassland plains and xeric scrublands to rain shadow faces of montane locations. [3]
Winterfat is a halophyte that thrives in salty soils such as those on alkali flats, including those of the Great Basin, Central Valley, Great Plains, and Mojave Desert.
Krascheninnikovia lanata is a small shrub sending erect stem branches to heights between 0.5–1 metre (1.6–3.3 ft). It produces flat lance-shaped leaves up to 3 centimeters long. The stems and gray foliage are covered in woolly white hairs that age to a reddish color. [3] The woolly hairs start development in the late fall and gradually diminish through the winter season. [4]
The tops of the stem branches are occupied by plentiful spike inflorescences from March to June. [3] The shrub is generally monoecious, with each upright inflorescence holding mostly staminate flowers with a few pistillate flowers clustered near the bottom. The staminate flowers have large, woolly leaflike bracts.
The pistillate flowers have smaller bracts and develop tiny white fruits. The silky hairs on the fruits allow for wind dispersal.
Krascheninnikovia lanata is cultivated in the specialty plant nursery trade as an ornamental plant for xeriscape and wildlife gardens, and native plant natural landscapes. The light gray foliage can be a distinctive feature in garden designs. The plants are very long-lived.
Winterfat is an important winter forage for livestock and wildlife because its evergreen leaves are high in protein, hence its common name. [1]
Winterfat is sometimes grown in xeriscape or native plant gardens for its striking whitish wool. It is especially valued for the fall and winter interest it provides in gardens. Small plants are easily transplanted. [4]
Winter fat was a traditional medicinal plant used by many Native American tribes that lived within its large North American range. These tribes used traditional plants to treat a wide variety of ailments and for other benefits. [5] The Zuni people use a poultice of ground root bound with a cotton cloth to treat burns. [6]
Ambrosia dumosa, the burro-weed or white bursage, a North American species of plants in the family Asteraceae. It is a common constituent of the creosote-bush scrub community throughout the Mojave Desert of California, Nevada, and Utah and the Sonoran Desert of Arizona and northwestern Mexico.
Baccharis pilularis, called coyote brush, chaparral broom, and bush baccharis, is a shrub in the family Asteraceae native to California, Oregon, Washington, and Baja California. There are reports of isolated populations in New Mexico, most likely introduced.
Eriogonum fasciculatum is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common names California buckwheat and flat-topped buckwheat. Characterized by small, white and pink flower clusters that give off a cottony effect, this species grows variably from a patchy mat to a wide shrub, with the flowers turning a rusty color after blooming. This plant is of great benefit across its various habitats, providing an important food resource for a diversity of insect and mammal species. It also provides numerous ecosystem services for humans, including erosion control, post-fire mitigation, increases in crop yields when planted in hedgerows, and high habitat restoration value.
Ratibida columnifera, commonly known as upright prairie coneflower, Mexican hat, and longhead prairie coneflower, is a perennial species of flowering plant in the genus Ratibida in the family Asteraceae. It is native to much of North America and inhabits prairies, plains, roadsides, and disturbed areas from southern Canada through most of the United States to northern Mexico.
Krascheninnikovia is a genus of flowering plants in the subfamily Chenopodioideae of the family Amaranthaceae known as winterfat, so-called because it is a nutritious livestock forage. They are known from Eurasia and western North America. These are hairy perennials or small shrubs which may be monoecious or dioecious. They bear spike inflorescences of woolly flowers.
Atriplex leucophylla is a species of saltbush known by the common names beach saltbush and white orache. It is native to the coastline of California and Baja California, and the Channel Islands, where it is a resident of beach dunes and other sandy areas.
Euphorbia polycarpa is a species of spurge known by the common name smallseed sandmat. It is native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, especially the deserts and other dry, sandy areas. This is a perennial herb producing stems that trail along the ground to form a clump or mat, sometimes growing somewhat upright. The leaves are each under a centimeter long. They are round or oval-shaped and have triangular stipules at the bases. What looks like a single flower is actually an inflorescence of many staminate (male) flowers united around a single central pistillate (female) flower. Bracts surrounding the flower unit are white and petal-like. The fruit is a thin spherical capsule less than 2 millimeters wide layered over a seed.
Ambrosia eriocentra is a North American species of ragweed known by the common names woolly bursage and woollyfruit burr ragweed.
Astragalus purshii is a species of milkvetch known by the common names woollypod milkvetch and Pursh's milkvetch.
Carex geyeri is a species of sedge known by the common names Geyer's sedge and elk sedge. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to California to Colorado, where it grows in dry areas in mountain meadows, grasslands, and open forest. This sedge produces scattered tufts of stems connected by a network of long rhizomes. The stems are triangular in cross-section and approach half a meter in maximum height. The inflorescence is composed of a cluster of staminate flowers and a cluster of pistillate flowers separated by a node.
Euphorbia schizoloba is a species of euphorb known by the common name Mojave spurge. It is native to the southwestern United States, where it grows in desert hills and mountains. It is a perennial herb producing upright stems up to 40 centimeters tall, sometimes with coats of sparse hairs. The stems are lined with alternately arranged leaves which are oval with pointed tips and measure up to 2 centimeters in length. The inflorescence is a cyathium with bell-shaped bracts surrounding four tiny glands with flat, fringed appendages. At the center of this arrangement are several staminate flowers and one long pistillate flower.
Dieteria canescens is an annual plant or short lived perennial plant in the family Asteraceae, known by the common names hoary tansyaster and hoary-aster.
Monardella hypoleuca is a species of flowering plant in the mint family, known by the common names thickleaf monardella and white leaf monardella.
Rhus aromatica, the fragrant sumac, is a deciduous shrub in the family Anacardiaceae native to North America. It is found in southern Canada and nearly all of the lower 48 states except peninsular Florida.
Tetradymia argyraea is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common names spineless horsebrush and gray horsebrush. It is native to western North America.
Artemisia frigida is a widespread species of flowering plant in the aster family, which is known as the sunflower family. It is native to Europe, Asia, and much of North America. In parts of the north-central and northeastern United States it is an introduced species.
Artemisia pedatifida is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common names birdfoot sagebrush and matted sagewort. It is native to a section of the west-central United States encompassing parts of Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado, where it occurs on the high plains.
Lycium pallidum is a species of flowering plant in the nightshade family known by the common names pale wolfberry and pale desert-thorn. It is native to northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. In Mexico it can be found in Sonora, Chihuahua, Zacatecas, and San Luis Potosi. In the United States it occurs from California to Texas and as far north as Utah and Colorado.
Krascheninnikovia ceratoides, the Pamirian winterfat, is a plant species native to Central Europe and Southern Europe, North Africa, and parts of Asia. It has been reported from Russia, China, Mongolia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Iran, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Egypt, Morocco, Spain, Austria, Slovakia, Czech Republic, and Romania.
Elodea bifoliata, commonly called twoleaf waterweed, is a species of perennial flowering plant in the waterweed genus, Elodea. It grows in much of the western United States and Canada. It was only recognized as a separate species in the 1960s. It is found growing in streams and shallow bodies of water.