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| ## winterfat {#winterfat .Title-Header}                               |
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| *Krascheninnikovia lanata* (Pursh) A.D.J. Meeuse & Smit               |
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| Plant Symbol = KRLA2                                                  |
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Contributed by: USDA NRCS Idaho State Office, Montana State Office,
Aberdeen Plant Materials Center, & Bridger Plant Materials Center

### Alternate Names![](media/image2.jpeg){width="2.7736111111111112in" height="2.652083333333333in"}

White sage, winter-sage, feather-sage, sweet sage, lambstail, *Eurotia
lanata*, and *Ceratoides lanata*

# 

# Uses

*Rangeland/Grazing* -- Winterfat is superior winter browse for livestock
and wildlife. It is rated as excellent to good browse for cattle, sheep,
and goats and fair browse for horses. It is one of the most valuable
rangeland browse plants for maintaining the weight of adult animals on
winter grazing ranges because of the high (\>10 percent) crude protein
content in winter.

*Wildlife* -- Winterfat is considered very good browse for wildlife and
is extensively utilized by rodents, rabbits, antelope, deer, elk, and
bighorn sheep.

*Erosion Control* -- Winterfat is a good erosion control plant when
planted in a mixture to provide greater plant density. It has a deep
taproot and an extensive fibrous root system near the soil surface,
which helps stabilize soils. It germinates readily and provides fairly
rapid growth under favorable growing conditions.

*Reclamation*: Winterfat is an important pioneer species and establishes
fairly easily on drastically disturbed sites or poorly developed soils
such as those commonly found on mine lands.

# Status

Consult the PLANTS Web site and your State Department of Natural
Resources for this plant's current status such as, state noxious status
and wetland indicator values.

# Description

Winterfat is an erect to spreading, low-growing, long-lived half-shrub
native to the western United States. It is a cool season plant,
typically with a central woody stem arising from a woody crown. Annual
secondary stems, 8 inches to 4 feet and sometimes taller, are herbaceous
on dwarf forms and herbaceous to woody throughout on taller forms, wooly
and branched. Winterfat has an extensive fibrous root system and a deep
penetrating taproot.

Leaves are simple, alternate, mostly linear, and revolutely margined
(rolled back from the margin). The inflorescence is a spike. Plants are
monoecious with staminate flowers above the pistillate ones or
occasionally they are dioecious. Pollination usually occurs between
plants, but self-pollination may occur on monecious plants. Wind is the
principal mode of pollination. The seed is a utricle and the seed coat
is thin and covered with fine white, silky pilose hairs to ½ inch long.

# Distribution

This plant is widely distributed from Saskatchewan and Manitoba, Canada
to western Nebraska, Colorado, west Texas, California and Washington.

**Adaptation**

Winterfat is most common in the 7 to 16 inch annual precipitation zones,
but has been found in areas with less than 6 inches of annual
precipitation and in areas with greater than 20 inches annual
precipitation. Winterfat is found from near sea level to 10,000 feet
elevation. It occurs in salt desert shrub, pinyon juniper, sagebrush
grass and near the edges of some forested plant communities.

Winterfat grows well on a wide range of soil textures, although it
prefers more basic or limy soils. It tolerates moderate to highly saline
conditions, but is not tolerant of acidic soils. It does not tolerate
flooding or extended wet conditions. Refer to soil surveys and
ecological site descriptions for additional guidance. It generally has
good cold tolerance with some accessions (see Northern Cold Desert
Germplasm and Open Range Germplasm) being more tolerant.

Active growth begins in early to mid spring, flowering occurs from mid
spring to early summer, and seed maturity is reached by mid to late
fall.

# Establishment

*Planting:* Winterfat seed does not remain viable for extended periods
and use of seed no older than two years is recommended. Winterfat seed
may lose as much as 50 percent or more viability during the first year
of storage. It is very important to have current germination test
results for seed that is to be planted.

Dormant fall - winter or very early spring plantings result in the best
stands. Studies indicate that winterfat seedlings can survive freezing
temperatures and do well at cool temperatures, but growth is very slow
during hot summer periods.

Winterfat utricles are covered with fine silky hairs that will not flow
through a drill. . Debearded seed flows readily through a drill, but
this seed (with hairs removed) may be viable for a shorter period of
time than non-debearded seed.

Winterfat should be seeded on the soil surface to [no]{.underline}
deeper than ¼ inch. Broadcasting seed on snow or broadcasting on a moist
firm soil surface followed by a packing operation results in the best
stands. Drilling seed from 1/16 to ¼ inch deep using a drill with good
depth control and packer wheels into firm soil also results in
satisfactory stands.

When drill seeded alone to reclaim winterfat monoculture plant
communities, 15 Pure Live seeds (PLS) per square foot (5.0 pounds PLS
per acre) is recommended. If broadcast seeded, the seeding rate should
be increased to 21 PLS seeds per square foot or 7.0 pounds PLS per acre.

When seeded as a component of a mix, 0.025 to 0.5 pound PLS per acre
drilled or 0.05 to 1.0 pound PLS per acre broadcast is recommended.
Seeding in alternate or cross rows promotes optimum establishment of
winterfat. A seeding rate of 1/40 (0.025) pound PLS per acre will result
in approximately 400 plants per acre under favorable establishment and
growing conditions.

If winterfat is seeded in areas where annual weeds such as cheatgrass,
medusahead rye, and/or tumble mustard are prevalent, it should be seeded
in a mixture of adapted, vigorous native grasses following control
practices such as tillage or herbicide treatment for the annual weeds.

# Management

Winterfat has excellent tolerance to browsing during the winter.
However, over-browsing has greatly reduced or eliminated it in some
areas. No more than 25 percent of the annual season growth should be
removed during the active growing period (less during active spring
growth period) and no more than 50 percent of the annual season growth
should be removed during dormant periods.

New plantings should be excluded from browsing by livestock and wildlife
until plants are well established and producing seed.

**Environmental Concerns**

Winterfat is native, long-lived, and spreads by seed distribution. It is
not considered \"weedy\", but could slowly spread into adjoining
vegetative communities under ideal climatic and environmental
conditions. This species is well documented as having beneficial
qualities and no negative impacts on wild or domestic animals.

# Seed Production

Seed production fields can be established from transplants or by direct
seeding. Establishing plants in a greenhouse and transplanting to the
field will result in the most satisfactory stands for seed production.
Plant spacing under transplant conditions should be 4 - 5 feet within
row and a minimum of 5 feet between rows. Transplanting into weed
barrier fabric can also improve plant establishment and seed production,
weed control, and moisture conservation. Transplanting is recommended in
the spring prior to hot summer temperatures. . Full seed production is
usually reached the second to third year following transplanting.

Plantings can also be established by direct seeding. A minimum of 15 to
20 PLS seeds per linear foot of drill row should be planted. Hand
seeding in late fall or very early spring may also be an option. Plant 5
to 10 seeds in a close group at desired spacing and thin to 1 or 2
plants after emergence. Full seed production may be reached the third to
fourth year following direct seeding.

Winterfat requires an equivalent of 10 to 12 inches annual precipitation
for seed production. Irrigation may only be needed for establishment.
Expected seed yields may range from 200 to 400 pounds per acre.
Fertilization is not generally recommended unless soil tests indicate
severe nutrient deficiencies. Rabbits and rodents can damage stands and
may destroy seedlings. Insects such as grasshoppers and Mormon crickets
infrequently damage stands beyond recovery.

Harvesting seed is best accomplished by hand stripping. Mechanized
harvesting has been used, but seed requires additional conditioning to
properly dry and clean excessive trash (leaves, stems, other inert
matter). Harvested seed is usually threshed by debearding or run through
a hammermill to remove the fine silky hairs that cover the seed followed
by screening. This process greatly enhances the ability of the seed to
flow through planting equipment. Removing the white hairs that surround
the seed can injure the seed resulting in reduced viability, seedling
vigor, and stand establishment. One must be extremely careful when
threshing seed to limit the amount of mechanical action on the seed to
minimize seed damage. Unthreshed seed is recommended for best stand
establishment if hand seeding directly or for transplants.

Viability of winterfat seed rapidly decreases after storage for 1 to 2
years even under the best storage conditions. Germination of fresh seed
can be as high as 85 to 95 percent. Germination of seed 3 years or older
is commonly below 25 percent. It is extremely important to have a
current germination test for seed that will be planted. Seeds per pound
will vary by accession, but averages 125,000 with bracts intact. Seed
conditioned with a hammer-mill to remove bracts averages 200,000 seeds
per pound.

**Cultivars, Improved and Selected Materials (and area of origin)**

Foundation and Registered seed is available through the appropriate
state Crop Improvement Association or commercial sources to grow
certified seed.

**'Hatch'** winterfat was released in 1985 by the USDA-NRCS Los Lunas
Plant Materials Center in cooperation with New Mexico, Colorado, Utah,
and Idaho Agricultural Experiment Stations, USDA-Forest Service, and
Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. 'Hatch' was selected for improved
seed production, germination, seedling vigor, and big game wildlife
preference.

'Hatch' originated from the Hatch, Utah area at a site with 11 to 12
inches annual precipitation, 7300 feet elevation, and a mixed
pinyon-juniper to mountain big sagebrush plant community. It performs
well in New Mexico, Arizona, western Colorado, southern Utah, and
southern Nevada. It is best adapted to upland sites and less adapted to
arid desert shrub sites. Field plantings in the northern regions of the
Great Basin and Intermountain West generally fail due to poor cold
tolerance.

**Northern Cold Desert Germplasm** Selected Class winterfat was released
in 2001 by the USDA-NRCS Aberdeen Plant Materials Center and Idaho
Agricultural Experiment Station. Northern Cold Desert Germplasm
winterfat was selected for improved cold hardiness and is better adapted
to the northern regions of the natural range of winterfat.

Northern Cold Desert Germplasm winterfat is a composite of five
accessions of winterfat. These accessions were selected from a
collection of 45 accessions evaluated and found to be significantly more
cold tolerant than others in the study. Source locations include a site
southeast of Price, Utah; a site near Castledale, Utah; a site six miles
east of Kanab, Utah; a site along Northfork Road in Washington County,
Utah; and a site in Rio Blanco County, Colorado.

The Northern Cold Desert Germplasm winterfat is an erect shrub that can
grow to 3 feet tall with a 2 feet diameter canopy cover. It is better
adapted to the colder, northern portions of the Great Basin and
Intermountain West than Hatch. It tolerates very dry conditions in the 7
-- 14 inch annual precipitation zone. It is highly tolerant of
alkaline/saline soils and soils derived from limestone parent materials.
Uses include rangeland restoration, erosion control, and browse for
livestock and wildlife.

**Open Range Germplasm** winterfat is a Tested Class germplasm released
in 2002 by Bridger, Montana Plant Materials Center. It is a composite of
three superior accessions from near Terry in Prairie County, Montana;
near Bridger in Carbon County, Montana; and near Rawlins in Carbon
County, Wyoming. Open Range Germplasm is adapted for use throughout the
Northern Great Plains region including north-central U.S. and
south-central Canada.

Contact your local Natural Resources Conservation Service (formerly Soil
Conservation Service) office for more information. Look in the phone
book under "United States Government." The Natural Resources
Conservation Service will be listed under the subheading "Department of
Agriculture."

**References**

Stevens, R., B. Giunta, K. Jorgensen, & A. Plummer 1977. Winterfat
(Ceratoides lanata). Publication No. 77-2 Utah Division of Wildlife
Resources. Federal Project W-82-R 1977. 41pp.

Stevens, R., K. Jorgensen, S. Young, & S. Monsen, 1996. Forb and shrub
seed production guide for Utah. Utah State University Extension AG 501.
51pp.

Wasser, C. 1982. Ecology and culture of selected species useful in
revegetating disturbed lands in the West. USDI Fish & Wildl. Serv.
FWS/OBS-82/56. 347 pp.

# Prepared By

*Daniel G. Ogle*, USDA NRCS Idaho State Office, Boise, Idaho

*Loren St. John*, USDA NRCS Plant Materials Center, Aberdeen, Idaho

*Larry Holzworth*, USDA NRCS Montana State Office, Bozeman, Montana

*Susan R. Winslow*, USDA NRCS Plant Materials Center, Bridger, Montana

**Species Coordinator**

*Daniel G. Ogle*, USDA NRCS Idaho State Office, Boise, Idaho

Edited 05dec00 jsp; 16aug02 srw; 16aug02 lkh; 24sept02 lsj; 24sept02
dgo; 11feb03 jsp; 060802 jsp

For more information about this and other plants, please contact your
local NRCS field office or Conservation District, and visit the PLANTS
Web site\<[http://plants.usda.gov](http://plants.usda.gov/)\> or the
Plant Materials Program Web site
\<[http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov](http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov/)\>

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