[Wikipedia] Namesake, Native American Uses: The genus was named for Stepan Krasheninnikov. the early 18th - century Russian botanist and explorer of Siberia and Kamchatka. Native American use Winter fat was a traditional medicinal plant used by many Native American tribes that lived within its large North American range. These tribes used traditional plants to treat a wide variety of ailments and for other benefits.[5] The Zuni people use a poultice of ground root bound with a cotton cloth to treat burns (link added by Mary Ann Machi)