32 



American Midland Naturalist Monograph No. 4 



Lake, 8,200 feet. GRAND CANYON, common in open exposed locahons on the North 

 Rim : Kaibab Forest. 



2b. Oldfield Common Juniper (Var. depressa Pursh). — Similar to 

 mountain common juniper but in general somewhat larger, the leaves straight 

 or nearly so and slightly longer, up to about ^2 inch long. 



Occurrence. — iSLE ROYALE, common: Mott Island. 



Ephedra Family (Gnetaceae) 

 Ephedra, Joint-fir, Mormon- 

 tea {Ephedra, L.). — There are sev- 

 eral species of Ephedra found in the 

 desert regions of the Southwest. All 

 are yellowish-green shrubs with broom- 

 like, apparently leafless branches and 

 conspicuously jointed stems, hence 

 the common name joint-fir. The 

 leaves are reduced to small scales 

 forming a sheath at each joint. Flow- 

 ers and seed-like fruits are borne in 

 small, inconspicuous, greenish, cone- 

 like structures. The Indians of the 

 region prepared a beverage from the 

 dried twigs. A similar drink was 

 used also by the early Mormons in 

 southern Utah and since then the 

 plants have been commonly known 

 as Mormon tea. The seeds were 

 sometimes roasted and ground into 

 flour to make a bitter bread. Locally 

 the plants were reputed to be of 

 medicinal value in the treatment of 

 kidney infections and venereal dis- 

 eases. The American species of 

 ephedra have attracted the attention 

 of chemists as a possible source of 

 the valuable drug, ephedrin, an alka- 

 loid obtained from a Chinese species 

 of ephedra. So far the results have 

 been negative. ^ 



Field Guide to the Species 

 Branches rather stiff, usually in pairs. 

 Stems yellow-green, the branches 

 numerous, pointing up- 

 wards and broom-like .... 

 1. E. viridis. 



Fig. 4. Green ephedra (Ephedra 

 \>mdis). 



6 Range Plant Handbook, B 73 (leaf 2) : United States Department of Agricul- 

 ture, Forest Service. 1937. 



