Besides being a very ornamental shrub of value in landscaping, the plant has various other uses. The seeds are edible and have long been used as food by Indians, Mexicans, and many animals. Mrs. Quillin, author of Texas Wild Flowers, reports the use in the treatment of diabetes of a tea the Mexicans make from the branches and leaves.
KRAMERIA FAMILY (Krameriaceae)
PRAIRIE SAND-BUR
Shrubs or perennials, leaves small; flowers irregular; sepals 4-5, petal-like; petals 4-5, smaller than sepals; stamens 3-4, united at base; fruit woody, armed with spines.
Prairie Sand-Bur. Linear-Leaved Krameria (Krameria lanceolata) is not the sand-bur of the grass family with which all children of the South are familiar; however, the burs are just as spiny, but are densely covered with white hairs. The flowers and short silky leaves grow on prostrate branches from a thick woody root. The 5 wine-red sepals may be mistaken for the petals which are smaller than the sepals and tinged with green, the 3 upper being united. The flowers are about an inch broad. The plant is not conspicuous but is quite abundant in dry, rocky soil from Kansas to Mexico, blooming from April to June.
Several shrubby kramerias grow in the southwestern part of the state. The name is in honor of an Austrian physician, Johann Kramer. Medicinal properties are reported for some of the species.
Chacate (Kameria grayi) is a densely branched shrub, 1-3 ft. high, with purple flowers. The bark of the root is used by Mexicans in dyeing leather a reddish-brown. It is found in the mountains of West Texas and Mexico.
PEA FAMILY (Fabaceae)
