Common Names
Navajo ephedra (1), Mormon tea (2).Taxonomic notes
Syn:Ephedra coryiReed var.viscidaCutler;E. viridisCoville var.viscida(Cutler) Benson. "The hybridEphedra × arenicolais discussed under E. torreyana." (1).Description
"Shrubs rhizomatous, forming clumps, erect, 0.25-1.5 m, 3-5 m diam. Barkreddish brown, cracked and irregularly fissured. Branches alternate or whorled,rigid, angle of divergence about 25°. Twigs bright green, becomingyellow-green with age, viscid, ridges between longitudinal grooves papillate;internodes 1-5 cm. Terminal buds conic, 1-3 mm. Leaves opposite, 2-5 mm,connate to 1/4-1/2 their length; bases thickened, brown, persistent; apexsetaceous. Pollen cones 2-several at node, obovoid, 4-6 mm, on very short,scaly peduncles (rarely sessile); bracts opposite, 5-9 pairs, light yellow,ovate, 2-4 × 2-3 mm, membranous, slightly connate at base; bracteolesslightly exceeding bracts; sporangiophores 2-4 mm, barely exserted, with 5-7sessile to short-stalked (less than 1 mm) microsporangia. Seed cones 2-severalat node, obovoid to nearly globose, 7-15 mm, peduncles 5-25 mm, with 1 pair ofbasal and 1 pair of nearly terminal bracts; bracts opposite, 3 or 4 pairs,ovate, 3-6 × 2-5 mm, membranous, with yellow center and base, marginsentire. Seeds 2, ellipsoid, 5-8 × 2-4 mm, brown to chestnut, smooth. ...Coning late winter-midspring (Mar-May)" (1).Range
US: Arizona, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico at 1400-2300 m on dry, flat, sandy areas, occasionally onrocky slopes (1).Big Tree
Oldest
Dendrochronology
Ethnobotany
Observations
Remarks
Citations
(1) Dennis W. Stevenson at the Flora of North America online.(2)Weber 1987.
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This page is from the Gymnosperm Database
URL: http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Canopy/2285/ep/ep/cutleri.htm
Edited by Christopher J. Earle
E-mail:earlecj@earthlink.com
Last modified on 11-Jan-1999