442 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [JUNE 
rings found was 40, showing that the plant is comparatively short- 
lived. 
Associated with Ephedra are occasional plants of Artemisia 
tridentata, the older ones much battered by snowslides and rolling 
stones, and quantities of Cercocarpus parvifolius, the mountain 
mahogany. Rarely indeed in the sandstone talus a plant of 
Equisetum is found. On more stable slopes Pinus edulis and species 
of Juniperus are fairly abundant. The general instability of the 
G. 3.—An old Ephedra on a comparatively stable slope; the oldest plant found 
in ees region, having 40 growth rings. 
region is well shown in fig. 2, where a pine has perished because of 
the rapid wearing away of the sandstone cliff. 
A careful and persistent search throughout the range of Ephedra 
was made for seedlings, but since none could be found, it seemed 
evident that such a short-lived plant, in order to maintain itself 
under the severe conditions imposed by its habitat, must have 
some method of vegetative reproduction. The almost universal 
occurrence of clumps led to a careful examination of the under- 
ground condition. In nearly every instance it was found that the 
