JOINT FIR FAMILY 369 



GNETACEAE JOINT FIR FAMILY 



Staminate flowers in catkins with solitary or clustered stamens in a 

 papery. 2-toothed perianth, pistillate flower an erect ovule with a projecting, 

 style-like appendage, enclosed in a perianth which is hardened and often 

 thickened in fruit ; Mowers dioecious with persistent bracts in axillary 

 clusters ; shrubs or small trees, mostly with jointed, opposite or clustered 

 branches and opposite or whorled foliage-like or scale-like leaves. 



Ephedra Linne 1753 Joint Fir 



(Gr. epi } upon, hcdra, seat) 



PI. 47, fig. 13. 



Characters of the family. 



1. Scales and branches opposite; bracts united; fruit 



5-6 mm.. long E. antisyphilitka 



2. Scales and branches in 3's; bracts hardly united; 



fruit 7-12 mm. long 



a. Scales short, 2-3 mm. long; fruit rough, 7-8 



mm. long E. torreyana 



b. Scales long, 6-12 mm. long; fruit smooth, 12 



mm. long E. trifurca 



