64 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM. 



In their general appearance these leafless plants are very unlike any others 

 found in North America. The stems have an astringent taste and contain 

 tannin, but they are much eaten by stock. A decoction of the stems is used 

 widely as a cure for venereal and renal diseases. E. distachya L., of the 

 Mediterranean Region, contains an alkaloid, ephedrine, which produces paralysis 

 of the heart. 

 Leaf scales ternate. 



Leaf scales 8 to 10 mm. long, the apex aristate 1. E. trifurca. 



Leaf scales 5 mm. long or shorter, acute 2. E. californica. 



Leaf scales opposite. 



Stems very scabrous 3. E. aspera. 



Stems smooth. 



Fruit not fleshy ; stems yellowish green, stiff, erect — 4. E. antisyphilitica. 

 Fruit fleshy ; stems glaucous or glaucescent. 



Stems erect, with short stiff branches ; fruit sessile or nearly so. 



5, E. comipacta. 

 Stems reclining, slender, flexuous; fruit conspic^uously pedunculate. 



6. E. pedunculata. 



1. Ephedra trifurca Torr. in Emory, Mil. Reconn. 152. 1848. 



Dry mesas and hillsides. Chihuahua, Sonora. and Baja California. Western 

 Texas to Utah ; type from New Meixco. 



About a meter high, with numerous erect branches. " Popotillo " (Chi- 

 huahua, Texas, New Mexico) ; " tepopote " (Chihuahua, Texas). 



2. Ephedra californica S. Wats. Proc. Amer. Acad. 14: 300. 1879. 



Dry plains and low mountain slopes, Baja California. Southern California; 

 type from San Diego County. 

 Erect shrub. 



3. Ephedra aspera Engelm. ; S. Wats. Proc. Amer. Acad. 18: 157. 1883. 



Dry plains and hillsides, Chihuahua to Zacatecas and Baja California ; type 

 from mountains near Saltillo, Coahuila. 



Erect shrub, 0.3 to 1 meter high. " Pitamoreal " (Coahuila); "tepopote," 

 " caiiatilla," "popotillo" (Durango) ; " itamo real" (Coahuila) ; " hintimoreal " 

 (Coahuila, Palmer). 



Used for the same purposes as the other species. Palmer states, also, that 

 the plant is sometimes sold in the markets as a remedy for pneumonia. 



4. Ephedra antisyphilitica IMeyer, Monogr. Ephedra 101. 1846. 



In dry soil at low altitudes, Coahuila (type locality) ; doubtless also in Chi- 

 huahua. Western Texas to Colorado. 



Shrub, a meter high or lower. "Caiiatilla" (Chihuahua, Texas, New Mex- 

 ico) ; "tepopote" (Chihuahua, Texas) ; "popotillo" (New Mexico). 



5. Ephedra compacta Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 261. 1909. 



Dry plains and hillsides, Puebla and Oaxaca ; type from Tehuacftn, Puebla. 

 Shrub, 30 to 50 cm. high, very densely branched, pale green ; fruit red and 

 fleshy. 



6. Ephedra pedunculata Engelm.; S. Wats. Proc. Amer. Acad. 18: 157. 1883. 

 Dry plains and hillsides. Chihuahua to San Luis PotosI and Zacatecas. 



Western Texas, the type from Uvalde. 



Slender shrub with long reclining stems ; fruit fleshy, red or salmon-colored. 

 " Canatilla," "tepopote," "popotillo" (Durango) ; itamo real" (Zacatecas. San 

 Luis PotosI) ; " retama real" (Durango, Palmer) ; " sanguinaria " (the stems, 

 San Luis PotosI, Safford). 



Besides its other uses. Palmer states that in Zacatecas the plant is esteemed 

 as a remedy for pleurisy and pneumonia. 



