Ephedra antisyphilitica

Berlandier ex C.A. Meyer 1846

Common names

Clap-weed, popote, tepopote, Cañatilla (Torrey 1858, Stevenson 1993).

Taxonomic notes

Syn: Ephedra antisyphilitica var. brachycarpa Cory 1938; E. occidentalis Torrey ex Parlatore 1869; E. texana E.L. Reed 1935 (Stevenson 1993).

Description

Shrubs, erect or spreading, up to 1 m tall. Bark gray, slightly cracked and irregularly fissured. Branches alternate or whorled, rigid, angle of divergence about 45°. Twigs green, becoming yellow-green with age, glaucous, not viscid, with numerous longitudinal grooves; internodes 2-5 cm. Terminal buds conic, 1-3 mm, apex obtuse. Leaves opposite, 1-3 mm, connate to 2/3-7/8 their length; bases thickened, brown, completely deciduous; apex obtuse. Pollen cones 1-2 at node, lance-ellipsoid, 5-8 mm, sessile to nearly sessile; bracts opposite, 5-8 pairs, pale green to red, obovate, 2-4 × 2-3 mm, membranous, connate at base; bracteoles slightly exceeding bracts; sporangiophores 4-5 mm, 1/2 exserted, with 4-6 sessile to very short-stalked (less than 1 mm) microsporangia. Seed cones 1-2 at nodes, ellipsoid, 6-12 mm, sessile to nearly sessile; bracts opposite, 4-6 pairs, ovate, 5-7 × 5-10 mm, connate to 1/8-7/8 their length, inner pairs becoming fleshy and red. Seeds 1(-2), ellipsoid, 6-9 × 2-4 mm, light brown to chestnut, smooth. Cones fertile March-April (Stevenson 1993). Note that this and E. pedunculata are the only North American Ephedra with fleshy, red seed cones.

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

Distribution and Ecology

US: Oklahoma and Texas; Mexico: Nuevo León and San Luis Potosí; at 100-1200 m on dry soils and rocky slopes. "Mexican populations ... are disjunct from those in Texas." (Stevenson 1993).

Remarkable Specimens

No data as of 2023.03.03.

Ethnobotany

Torrey (1858) says "the Mexicans ... use a decoction of it as a remedy for gonorrhea."

Observations

Remarks

The epithet antisyphilitica is a reference to the plant's use as a treatment for venereal disease (Torroy 1858).

Citations

Meyer, C. A. 1846. Versuch einer Monographie der Gattung Ephedra, dirch Abbildung erlautert. Mémoires de l'Académie impériale des sciences de St.-Pétersbourg, Sér. 6, Sci. Math., Seconde Pt. Sci. Nat. 5:35-107. Available: Biodiversity Heritage Library, accessed 2021.12.26.

Torrey, J. 1858. Botany of the boundary. In W.H. Emory, Report on the United States and Mexican Boundary Survey, Vol. 2, Part 2. Washington, D.C.: A. O. P. Nicholson. Available: Biodiversity Heritage Library, accessed 2021.12.26.

See also

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