LXXV. GNETA'CEM : E PHEDRA. 937 



Height 3 ft. to 4 ft, Introduced in 1714. Flowers, in sessile catkins, 

 brownish ; March and April. 



The young branches are downy. Leaves alternate, oblong, linear ; cut on 

 each side into rounded and numerous lobes, like those of the ceterach ; and 

 sprinkled with shining dots, like those of the gales. This shrub is very hardy, 

 but it requires peat earth and a shady situation. Propagated by layers, suck- 

 ers, or seeds. The first and second methods are the most common, as good 

 seeds can rarely be procured. 



Order LXXV. GNETACEM. 



Ord. Char. Flowers unisexual, disposed in aments, which are involucrated 

 by opposite or decussate connate scales. Malejloiver with a 1 -leaved 

 perianth, which is transversely cleft at apex, and branched into 1- or many- 

 anthered filaments ; cells of anthers separate or combined, each opening by 

 a pore at apex. Female flower composed of 2 connate scales. Ovarium 

 1-celled, perforated at apex. Ovulum solitary. Fruit indehiscent, drupa- 

 ceous. Albumen fleshy. {G. Don.) 



Leaves simple, opposite, exstipulate, caducous ; linear, and scale-like. 

 Flowers in terminal catkins. Shrubs evergreen, from the colour of the 

 bark, with tubular jointed stems and branches. Natives of Europe, Asia, 

 and Africa. Cultivated in sandy soil ; and propagated by division. 



Genus I. 



JSTHEDRA L. The Ephedra. Lin. Syst. Dioe'cia Monadelphia. 



Identification. Lin. Gen., 1136. ; N. Du Ham., 3. p. 17. 



Derivation. From ephedra, the Greek name for the //ippdris, or Horsetail, which it resembles. 



Gen. Char. See Ord. Char. 



Low shrubs ; evergreen, from the colour of the bark of their branches, and 

 in that respect resembling the genera Casuarina and ^quisetum. They are 

 natives of the South of Europe, Barbary, and Siberia, on the sea-shore, or in 

 saline or sandy wastes ; and they have been but little subjected to cultivation. 

 According to Du Hamel, they bear the shears well, and form beautiful round 

 balls, which may either be made to appear as if lying on the ground, or may 

 be supported on a short stem. The lower sorts, Du Hamel continues, may 

 be clipped to resemble turf; and for that purpose the plant may be valuable, 

 in some parts of Austraha and Africa, to form lawns which shall create an 

 allusion to temperate climates. The saving by using such plants as JS'phedra, 

 which would require little or no watering, instead of a great deal, as the 

 European grasses do in such a climate, would be very considerable. 



a. 1. jB. dista'chya L. The two-spiked Ephedra, Great shrubby Horse- 



taily or Sea Grape. 



Identification. I.in. Sp., 1472. ; Ait. Hort. Kew., ed. 1., 3. p. 16. 



Synonymes. 'phedra vulgaris Rich. Mem. Conif. p. 26. t. 4. f. 1. ; Polygonum marlnum Tabern. 



Ic. S36. ; P. famiifBlium, &c., Bauh. Pin. 15. ; 'phedra maritima major Tourn. Inst. G63. ; Raisin 



de Mer, Ephddre multiaore, Fr. ; Zweyahriger Ross Schwanz, Ger. 

 The Sexes. Both are figured in Tabernaniontanus, in Clusius, and in Richard. 

 Engravings. Du Ham., t. 1. pi. 92. ; Rich. Mem. Conif., t. 4. f. 1. ; and our figs. 1747. and 1748. 



of the natural size. 



Spec. Char., ^c. Peduncles opposite. Catkins twin. {Lin.) A small ever- 



