Chemical Properties
Rhatany is the reddish-brown, bitter-tasting root of Krameria triandra, an undershrub native to the Andean region of South America. The shrub has voluminous roots and several erect or prostrate, very thin, 1 m (39 in.) long stems. The stems initially are hirsute, turning glabrous with age. The small, sessile, lanceolate leaves are covered by coarse, silver-white hairs with hairy, externally green, internally red flowers in the axilla of the uppermost leaves. The plant grows in the Andes region of Bolivia, Colombia, Peru and Brazil. The part used is the roots. Rhatany is bitter, astringent.
