Krameria bicolor – “White Ratany”

Also Known As: Crimson Beak, Chacate, Cosahui
Other Botanical Names: Krameria grayi
Family: Ratany (Krameriaceae)
Bloom Period: Apr-May
Form: Shrub
Habitat: Rocky soils and washes
Leaves: Linear to lanceolate, grey or greyish-green; alternate
Translation: “Krameria” is named for John George Henry and William Henry Kramer, father and son, Austrian botanists; “bicolor” is Latin for “two-colored” and it is not clear what that describes; “grayi” is named for Asa Gray (1810-1888), botanist and founder of the Gray Herbarium at Harvard University.
Notes: Fruits are round and covered with sharply hooked barbs which help them catch rides to new locations. White Ratany can be partially parasitic on other plants, especially Creosote Bush (Larrea tridentata), with which it often grows. Its roots attach themselves to the roots of its host and take food, water and nutrients. The common name, Chacate, is a Spanish version of the Nahuatl (Aztec) word, chacatl.
Native American Uses: The Paiute treated gonorrheal sores with the roots, either decocted as tea or dried and powdered. The Pima took an infusion of roots for pain, fevers and coughs, and made a poultice from dried, powdered roots to prevent infection of a newborn’s bellybutton. They also chewed the roots for sore throats and extracted a brown dye for baskets from them. The Shoshone washed muscle swellings in an infusion of the pulverized root.
Animal Associations: Flowers do not have nectaries and instead feature petals with oil-secreting glands. Digger Bees collect the oil with specially equipped hind-legs and feed it to their young in combination with pollen from other sources. Forage plant for the Mule Deer, Black-Tailed Jackrabbit and Desert Bighorn sheep.