Ephedra likiangensis

Florin 1933

Common names

丽江麻黄 Lijiang ma huang [Chinese] (Fu et al. 1999).

Taxonomic notes

A molecular analysis found Ephedra likiangensis sister to E. minuta, in a clade sister to all other Asian taxa of Ephedra (Rydin and Korall 2009). All studied individuals have been found to be tetraploid (Ohri 2021).

Description

"Shrubs or subshrubs to 1.5 m (usually smaller); stems erect, occasionally procumbent or buried in soil, stout; herbaceous branchlets ascending, green to brownish green, thick, internodes 2-4 cm × 1.5-2.5 mm, deeply furrowed, finely scabridulous. Leaves opposite, rarely in whorls of 3, connate for 1/2-3/4 their length. Pollen cones clustered at nodes, sessile or shortly pedunculate; bracts in 4 or 5(or 6) pairs, connate at base; staminal column not or slightly exserted, with 5-8 sessile anhers. Seed cones solitary or more often opposite at nodes, sessile or pedunculate, ovoid to subglobse at maturity, 8-11 × 6-10 mm; bracts in (2 or)3 pairs, apical pair connate for 3/4-8/9 their length, red and fleshy at maturity; integument tube less than 1 mm, straight. Seeds 1 or 2, 4.5–8 × 2-4 mm, elongate-ovoid, finely striate dorsally. Pollination May-Jun, seed maturity Jul-Sep. 2n = 28" (Fu et al. 1999).

Distribution and Ecology

China: W Guizhou, W Sichuan, E Xizang, NW Yunnan in mountains at 2300-4200 m elevation (Fu et al. 1999).

Remarkable Specimens

No data as of 2023.03.03.

Ethnobotany

"This species has medicinal properties" (Fu et al. 1999).

Observations

See the observations on iNaturalist, accessed 2021.12.30.

Remarks

The epithet refers to Lijiang, a prominent city in Yunnan, used as a base by many of the 19th-century botanical explorers in the region.

Citations

Florin, C. R. 1933. Kongl. Svenska Vetenskapsakad. Handl., ser. 3, 12:33. [not available online]

Ohri, D. 2021. Polyploidy in gymnosperms -- a reappraisal. Silvae Genetica 70:22-38.

Rydin, C., and P. Korall. 2009. Evolutionary relationships in Ephedra (Gnetales), with implications for seed plant phylogeny. International Journal of Plant Sciences 170(8):1031–1043. doi:10.1086/605116.

See also

Species profile at Plants of the World Online, accessed 2021.12.30.