78 



EPHEDRACEAE 



2. Ephedra nevadensis S. Wats. 

 Nevada Ephedra. Fig. 162. 



Ephedra nevadensis S. Wats. Proc. Am. Acad. 14: 298. 1879. 



An erect shrub, 5-10 dm. high, with divergently 

 spreading, glaucous green, scabrous branches. Leaf- 

 scales in 2's, 3-6 mm. long, sheathing to about the 

 middle, obtuse or tapering at the apex, mostly decidu- 

 ous in age; staminate aments sessile, with 4-6 pairs of 

 bracts; fruiting bracts of 4 or 5 pairs, round-ovate, 

 sessile ; fruit exserted, acutish at apex. 



Characteristic of the lower part of the Juniper belt and the 

 upper part of the Covillea belt of the desert regions. Upper 

 and Lower Sonoran Zones; Nevada and southern Utah south- 

 ward through Arizona to northern Mexico, and through the 

 Mojave and Colorado Deserts of California to northern Lower 

 California. Type locality: "Pah Ute Mountains, altitude 5000 ft., 

 and Carson City, Nevada." 



3. Ephedra cahfornica S. Wats. 

 California Ephedra. Fig. 163. 



1879. 



ternate, 



Ephedra californica S. Wats. Proc. Am. Acad. 14: 300 

 Low, spreading or suberect shrub, with 

 smooth or slightly scabrous, pale, glaucous branches, not 

 spinose-tipped. Leaf-scales in 3's, oblong, acutish, 

 sheathing to above the middle but soon splitting to the 

 base and becoming recurved, persistent and turning dark- 

 colored in age; staminate aments sessile, globose, with 4 

 whorls of ternate bracts; fruiting bracts of 4 or 5 

 whorls, rather rigid, round-reniform, with a short broad 

 claw; fruit exserted, ovoid, merely acutish at apex, 

 about 15 mm. long. 



Juniper belt, Upper Sonoran Zone; Mojave and Colorado 

 Deserts, southward to Lower California, and westward to the 

 coast in the vicinity of San Diego. Type locality: Point Loma, 

 San Diego, Calif. 



4. Ephedra trifurca Torr. 

 Three-forked Ephedra. Fig. 164. 



Ephedra trifurca Torr. in Emory Rep. 153. 1848. 



An erect shrub, 5-10 dm. high, with erect, nearly smooth, 

 pale green, spinose-tipped branches. Leaf-scales in 3's, 5-10 

 mm. long, sheathing to about the middle, persistent, acumin- 

 ate, becoming white and shreddy; staminate aments sessile, 

 with 4 or 5 whorls of bracts ; fruiting bracts of many whorls, 

 thin and membranous, round-reniform with an elongated, 

 very slender claw; fruit included within the bract, tapering 

 to a prominent beak. 



Desert regions, mainly Lower Sonoran Zone; western Texas and 

 southern Utah south to Mexico, and west to the deserts of southern 

 California where it has been found along the Mojave River at Daggett, 

 and on Superstition Mountain, Colorado Desert. Type locality: "From 

 the region between the Del Norte and the Gila, and the hills bordering 

 the latter river to the desert west of the Colorado." 



