Ephedra equisetina

Bunge 1851

Common names

木贼麻黄 mu zei ma huang (Fu et al. 1999).

Taxonomic notes

Syn.: Ephedra shennungiana Tang 1928; Ephedra nebrodensis Tineo subsp. equisetina (Bunge) Breistr. ex Greuter & Burdet 1984; and Ephedra equisetina Bunge var. monoica Y.Yang 2000.

Description

Shrubs, up to 1(-1.5) m tall, erect or partially procumbent, with thick, well developed woody stems. Herbaceous branchlets straight, long, slender, blue-green or gray-green with a powdery bloom, 1-1.5 mm in diameter, rigid, internodes short, 1-3 cm × 1-1.5 mm, finely furrowed. Leaves opposite, brownish, 1.5-3 mm long, connate for ca. 3/4 their length, free part bluntly triangular. Pollen cones solitary or in clusters of 3 or 4 at nodes, sessile or shortly pedunculate; bracts in 3 or 4 pairs, connate for ca. 1/3 their length; staminal column slightly exserted, with 6-8 sessile anthers. Seed cones usually opposite at nodes, shortly pedunculate, elongate-ovoid or ovoid at maturity, 8-10 × 4-5 mm; bracts in 3 pairs, apical pair connate for ca. 2/3 their length, red and fleshy at maturity; integument tube to 2 mm, straight or slightly curved, slightly exserted. Seeds usually 1, elongate-ovoid, 5-7 × 2.5-3 mm. Pollination Jun-Jul, seed maturity Aug-Sep. 2n = 14 (Fu et al. 1999). See also the description in Bobrov (1968).

Distribution and Ecology

Afghanistan; China: Gansu, Hebei, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shanxi, and Xinjiang; Kazakhstan; Kyrgyzstan; Mongolia; Russia; Tajikistan; Turkmenistan; Uzbekistan. Grows in dry and rocky places at 800-3000 m elevation (Fu et al. 1999).

The IUCN has not prepared an evaluation of this taxon. However, it is still probably accurate to assess E. equisetina as "least concern" under IUCN criteria due to its extensive area of occupancy.

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 equisetina acknowledges the resemblance between the ridged, green, jointed stems of Equisetum and those of Ephedra. This resemblance has even been known to confuse the image recognition software at iNaturalist.

Citations

Bobrov, E. G. 1968. Ephedraceae, pp. 154-160 in V.L. Komarov (ed.), Flora of the USSR, Vol. 1, trans. by the Israel Program for Scientific Translations. Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution and National Science Foundation. Available: Biodiversity Heritage Library, accessed 2021.12.29.

Bunge, A. 1851. Beitrag Zur Renntniss Der Flor Russlands Und Der Steppen Central-Asiens. Mémoires présentés à l'Académie impériale des Sciences de St. Petersbourg par divers Savans et dans ses assemblées, sér. 6, Sci. Math. 7: 501. Available: Biodiversity Heritage Library, accessed 2021.12.31.

See also

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