70 MISC. PUBLICATION 42 3, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



in Arizona, often forming forests (such as the one south of Ash Fork, 

 Yavapai County), below the pinyons and yellow pines. It grows 

 ordinarily as a small, conical tree 3 to 4.5 m. (10 to 15 feet) high, with 

 a definite trunk. The limbs are not much curved. Juniperus 

 megalocarpa Sudworth, the bigberry juniper, seems to be no more than 

 a form with large fruits and seeds. The fruit is described as 14 to 18 

 mm. in diameter. 



2. GNETACEAE. Jointfir family 



1. EPHEDRA. 13 Jointfir 



Xerophytic shrubs; stems opposite or whorled, slender, jointed, 

 striate, equisetoid; leaves reduced to scales, paired or ternate, more 

 or less connate; inflorescence (strobile) conelike; flowers dioecious; 

 staminate flowers with 2 to 8 or more stamens, the filaments united; 

 bracts of the ovulate strobile in several pairs or ternate whorls, in the 

 Arizona species firm or scarious; seeds 1 to 3, hard, angled or subterete. 



All Arizona species, with the possible exception of E. trifurca, are 

 valuable browse in winter when better forage is lacking. E. cutleri 

 has considerable value as a soil binder. A palatable tonic beverage 

 (Mormon-tea, Brigham-tea) is made from the dried stems and flowers 

 of these plants, which contain certain alkaloids, such as pseudoephe- 

 drin, and tannins. The Indians and early white settlers esteemed 

 Ephedra for treatment of syphilis and other affections. The drug 

 ephedrin, commonly administered as an astringent and as a mild 

 substitute for adrenalin, is obtained from E. sinica Stapf, a Chinese 

 herb. The plants flower in spring. 



Key to the species 



1. Scales 3 at each node; bracts of the fruiting cones clawed, 7 to 10 mm. wide, 

 flexible and scarious; seeds slender, about twice as long as thick (2). 

 2. Scales 5 to 12 mm. long, persistent but soon shreddy; bracts of the fruiting 

 cones entire-margined, reddish brown, cordate 1. E. trifurca. 



2. Scales 3 to 5 mm. long, tardily deciduous but not becoming shreddy; bracts 



erose-margined, yellowish, rounded or truncate at base- 2. E. torreyana. 

 1. Scales 2 at each node; bracts not clawed, 3 to 5 mm. wide, firm, with narrow 

 scarious margin; seeds plump (3). 



3. Base of the scales dark brown, persistent; seeds prevailingly paired (4). 

 4. Peduncles of the ovulate spikes wanting or very short; stems not viscid. 



3. E. VIRIDIS. 



4. Peduncles of the ovulate spikes up to 2 cm. long; stems often viscid. 



4. E. CUTLERI. 

 3. Base of the scales gray, deciduous (5). 



5. Seeds mostly paired, brown, smooth 5. E. nevadensis. 



5. Seeds mostly solitary, grayish or light brown, vertically wrinkled. 



6. E. FASCICULATA. 



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



Greenlee County to Gila, Yavapai, and Mohave Counties, south to 

 the Mexican boundary, up to 4,500 feet, desert or grassland. South- 

 western Texas to southern California and adjacent Mexico. 



The largest Arizona species, occasionally attaining a height of 15 

 feet (4.5 m.). 



» 3 References: Groff, G. W., and Clark, G. W. the botany of ephedra. Calif. Univ. Pubs. Bot. 14: 

 247-282. 1928. 

 Cutler, H. C monograph of the north American species of the genus ephedra. 

 Mo. Bot. Gard. Ann. 26: 373-428. 1939. 



