The Gymnosperm Database

Photo 03

Illustration, from Martínez Carretero (2018).

Photo 02

A large plant in habitat, Chile; iNaturalist observation 29922585 [Vicente Pantoja, 2019.07.31].

Photo 03

Plant in habitat, Chile, showing the distinctive leaves; iNaturalist observation 81774927 [Carolina Fuentes, 2021.06.04].

Photo 04

Active pollen cones on a plant in habitat, Chile; iNaturalist observation 94490456 [Macarena Andrea Villalobos Farías, 2021.09.11].

Photo 05

Yellowish fruits and leaves on a plant in habitat, Chile; iNaturalist observation 73528404 [Joaquin Sepulveda, 2017.12.13].

Photo 06

Yellowish fruits and leaves on a plant in habitat, Chile; iNaturalist observation 23025912 [orlandomontes, 2018.11.22].

Photo 07

A plant in habitat, Chile, illustrating the rhizomatous habit; iNaturalist observation 62081890 [ludovica, 2020.10.03].

 

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Conservation status

Ephedra chilensis

C. Presl 1843

Common names

Jointfir, pinco-pinco (or pingo-pingo).

Taxonomic notes

Synonymy:

Description

Dioecious subshrubs or shrubs to 1.5 m tall. Rhizomatous. Young branches upright. Leaves (2.5-)3-9(-12) mm, decussate. Pollen cones globose or ovoid, simple or branched, sessile or pedunculate, terminal or axillary; bracts decussate, fused for up to 1/2 of their length. Pollen cones fleshy when ripe, globose, pink or red. Seeds 2, covered by the upper pair of bracts (Martínez Carretero 2018).

Martínez Carretero (2018) also gives a key to the six Argentine species of Ephedra.

Distribution and Ecology

Argentina: Mendoza, Neuquén; Chile: Maule, Valparaíso, Antofagasta, Santiago; perhaps Bolivia; at elevations of 300-3850 m in shrubland, rocky areas, and desert (Bell and Bachman 2011). The distribution is primarily in Chile.

Note that since the IUCN (assessment by Bell and Bachman 2011) treats E. gracilis as a synonym of E. chilensis, conservation assessments and range data for the two taxa are conflated. E. gracilis has a smaller distribution that falls within the Chilean range of E. chilensis.

Remarkable Specimens

No data as of 2023.03.03.

Ethnobotany

Observations

Remarks

The epithet means "of Chile".

Citations

Bell, A. and S. Bachman. 2011. Ephedra chilensis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2011. https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/201695/9167159, accessed 2021.12.27.

Huxley, A. 1992. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press (as E. americana var. andina).

Martínez Carretero, Eduardo. 2018. Ephedraceae Dumort. in Flora de Mendoza, Multequina 27: Fascículo 10, FM 1-9. Available: https://www.redalyc.org/jatsRepo/428/42857911008/42857911008.pdf, accessed 2021.12.26.

Presl, Karl B. 1843. Botanische Bemerkungen. Abh. Königl. Böhm. Ges. Wiss., ser. 5, 3: 539. Available: Biodiversity Heritage Library, accessed 2021.12.27.

See also

Species profile at Plants of the World Online, accessed 2021.12.27.

Last Modified 2023-03-03