Krascheninnikovia ceratoides subspecies lanata. Synonyms: Krascheninnikovia lanata, Ceratoides lanata. (Winterfat)
Amaranthaceae (Amaranth Family) formerly Chenopodiaceae (Goosefoot Family)

Semi-desert. Shrublands. Summer.
Top of page: Lower Butler Wash, Utah, September, 2014.
Left: Canyonlands National Park, Utah, April 7, 2004; Hidden Valley Trail, Utah, October 21, 2013; and Big Gypsum Valley, May 10, 2013.

Almost all modern floras give the specific epithet of this plant as lanata, but John Kartesz, ultimate authority for all plant names on this website, maintains that the specific epithet should be ceratoides. The history of the naming of this species is convoluted.

The species was first named Axyris ceratoides by Linnaeus in 1753 from European specimens. In 2013 Heklau analyzed the history of the naming of this species and he found that it is "most likely" that Linnaeus was looking at specimens and descriptions of plants collected by the famous Siberian explorer Steller.  In 1772 Johann Gueldenstaedt reexamined the Steller specimens and concluded that they were not of the genus Axyris but instead should be placed in a new genus, one that he named for Russian professor, botanist, and explorer I. M. Krascheninnikov, thus Krascheninnikovia ceratoides.

Meriwether Lewis was the first to collect this plant for western science and it was named Diotis lanata by Frederick Pursh in 1813. The plant endured several other names and then in 1971 Meeuse and Smit named it Krascheninnikovia lanata, the most widely accepted name at present.

Although most western botanists separate the North American species of Krascheninnikovia from the Eurasian species, Heklau's concludes from his research that they are the same and should be given their original Eurasian name, Krascheninnikovia ceratoides.

(Click for more biographical information about Krascheninnikov.)

"Ceratoides" means "horn-like" and "lanata" means "woolly".

Click to read more about the convoluted history of the naming of this species.

Semi-desert. Shrublands. Summer.
Big Gypsum Valley, April 7, 2020.

The ground around these grazed 18 inch Krascheninnikovia is whitened from the remnants of the seeds.

Semi-desert. Shrublands. Summer.
Canyonlands National Park, Utah, April 7, 2004 and Cannonball Mesa, December 7, 2020.

Semi-desert. Shrublands. Summer.
Murphy Trail, Island in the Sky, Canyonlands National Park, Utah, September 27, 2005.

Range map © John Kartesz,
Floristic Synthesis of North America

State Color Key

Species present in state and native
Species present in state and exotic
Species not present in state

County Color Key

Species present and not rare
Species present and rare
Species extirpated (historic)
Species extinct
Species noxious
Species exotic and present
Native species, but adventive in state
Eradicated
Questionable presence

Range map for Krascheninnikovia ceratoides