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 2026-01-15.

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.