12 MISC. PUBLICATION 101, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 
harmless. This is of interest to us because of the extremely close 
relationship, botanically, of our three native species of yew to the 
Old World 7. baccata. In fact the Canada yew (7. canadensis) of 
the East has been involved in several cases of livestock poisoning; 
it contains the bitter alkaloid taxin (C;,H,;,NO,,.), a toxic heart 
depressant, and apparently other injurious substances as well. The 
Pacific yew (7. brevifolia), which ranges from Alaska to western 
Montana and California, is apparently not known to have poisoned 
livestock. It is, of course, not likely to be grazed except in winter 
or other time of scarcity of feed. 
JOINTFIR FAMILY (GNETACEAE) 
JOINTFIRS (EPHEDRA SPP.) 
Five or six species of this genus commonly occur on semiarid 
western, or mainly southwestern ranges. All the species are known 
also as Mormon-tea, canatillo, Brigham tea, teamsters’ tea, shrubby 
horsetail, and by other local names. The name jointfir is recom- 
mended for the genus Ephedra in Standardized Plant Names. 
American species are beginning to attract the attention of chemists 
as a possible source of the very valuable drug ephedrin (10, 103a). 
Nevada jointfir (7 phedra nevadensis) (fig. 1, D) is a rather low, 
practically leafless, opposite-branched shrub, ranging from Utah 
to California, Sonora, and Chihuahua. It inhabits dry sagebrush 
or creosote bush plains and foothills, frequently in gravelly or rocky 
soils. Often abundant, but usually in scattered stands, it favors 
canyons, arroyos, and dry watercourses generally where the drainage 
is good and there is more or less subirrigation. The odd, greenish- 
yellow flowers (male and female borne on separate plants) usually 
appear in May and June. 
The brushlike sprays of mainly bluish-green stems are often 
cropped by cattle, sheep, and goats on winter range, and the palata- 
bility of the species to cattle in winter has been placed by some 
investigators as high as 40 per cent. Owing to the immense number 
of the rushlike twigs produced and the relative abundance of the 
species on some areas the plant is at times a very important element 
in the winter-carrying capacity, and it is, in fact, cropped to a 
smaller extent the year round. This species (as well as others of the 
genus) has long been held in high local repute as a specific in acute 
urethritis, and has doubtless been employed as such by the Indians 
for centuries (129) ; strange to say, however, little definite scientific 
information exists as to its actual medicinal value. Schneider (178) 
states that the “ Coahilla Indians prepare a cooling drink from the 
dried twigs and leaves. The seeds are sometimes roasted and 
eaten.” Analyses are said to reveal a high percentage of tan- 
nin (746). 
OTHER SPECIES 
The largest of our American jointfirs is Ephedra antisyphilitica 
(107) which sometimes grows 9 or 10 feet high. . viridis (fig. 1, A), 
conspicuous because of its bright yellowish-green color and very 
slender erect branches, is a rather important fall and winter cattle 
browse in some portions of the southern Great Basin region, and 
extends into Arizona and southeastern California. ££. torreyana 
