Ephedra cutleri

Peebles 1940

Common names

Navajo ephedra (Stevenson 1993), Mormon tea (Weber 1987).

Taxonomic notes

Syn: Ephedra coryi Reed var. viscida H.C. Cutler 1939; E. viridis Coville var. viscida (H.C. Cutler) L.D. Benson 1943 (Stevenson 1993). E. cutleri hybridizes with E. torreyana to form the nothospecies Ephedra × arenicola

Description

Dioecious shrubs to 1.5 m tall, rhizomatous, often forming clumps 3-5 m diameter. Bark reddish brown, cracked, irregularly fissured. Branches alternate or whorled, rigid, angle of divergence about 25°. Twigs bright green, becoming yellow-green with age, viscid, with papillate ridges between longitudinal grooves; internodes 1-5 cm. Terminal buds conic, 1-3 mm. Leaves opposite, 2-5 mm, connate to 1/4-1/2 their length; bases thickened, brown, persistent; apex setaceous. Pollen cones 2-several at nodes, obovoid, 4-6 mm, on very short, scaly peduncles (rarely sessile); bracts opposite, 5-9 pairs, light yellow, ovate, 2-4 × 2-3 mm, membranous, slightly connate at base; bracteoles slightly exceeding bracts; sporangiophores 2-4 mm, barely exserted, with 5-7 sessile to short-stalked (less than 1 mm) microsporangia. Seed cones 2-several at nodes, obovoid to nearly globose, 7-15 mm, peduncles 5-25 mm, with 1 pair of basal and 1 pair of nearly terminal bracts; bracts opposite, in 3 or 4 pairs, ovate, 3-6 × 2-5 mm, membranous, with yellow center and base, margins entire. Seeds 2, ellipsoid, 5-8 × 2-4 mm, brown to chestnut, smooth. Pollen cones active late winter to mid-spring (March-May) (Stevenson 1993). Note that this is the only North American species of Ephedra having viscid twigs, and shares with E. coryi the rhizomatous habit.

Stevenson (1993) provides this Key to the North American species of Ephedra.

Distribution and Ecology

US: Arizona, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, primarily in the Colorado Plateau, at 1400-2300 m on dry, flat, sandy areas, occasionally on rocky slopes (Stevenson 1993).

Remarkable Specimens

No data as of 2023.03.03.

Ethnobotany

Observations

Remarks

The epithet honors American botanist H. C. Cutler, who in 1939 described this taxon as a variety of E. coryi.

Citations

Peebles, R. H. and L. C. Wheeler. 1940. Arizona plants: a new variety and new names and combinations. Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences 30:473. Available: Biodiversity Heritage Library, accessed 2021.12.28.

See also

Cutler, H. C. 1939. Monograph of the North American species of the genus Ephedra. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 26:373-427. Available: Biodiversity Heritage Library, accessed 2021.12.28.

Species profile at Plants of the World Online, accessed 2021.12.29.