Ephedra lomatolepis

Schrenk 1845

Common names

窄膜麻黄 zhai mo ma huang [Chinese] (Fu et al. 1999).

Taxonomic notes

Syn. Ephedra stenosperma Schrenk & C.A. Mey.

"H. Riedl notes that Ephedra lomatolepis has seed cones light brown and dry when mature, with bracts free (as in E. przewalskii), the membranous margins much wider than the herbaceous center. The characters of the male plant described here seem to apply to a taxon other than E. lomatolepis (which is endemic to the Balkhash area of Kazakstan), possibly even to a new species" (Fu et al. 1999). I haven't yet determined if such a "new species" has been described; it may be a reference to E. sinaica Riedl.

Description

"Shrubs or subshrubs, to 50 cm; herbaceous branchlets green, 1-1.5 mm in diam., rigid, finely furrowed, internodes 4–6 cm. Leaves and bracts of cones with narrow, membranous margins. Leaves opposite or in whorls of 3. Pollen cones densely aggregated at nodes along branches, 5-6 mm; bracts in 2-4 pairs, connate for ca. 1/2 their length; anthers 6-8, shortly stipitate. Seed cones solitary or in clusters of 3 or 4; peduncle long, 1-5 cm; bracts in 3-5 pairs or whorls, free, margins prominent, broad, membranous, often erose, becoming red and fleshy at maturity; integument tube ca. 1.5 mm, slightly spirally twisted. Seeds 2 or 3, brown, ca. 4 mm. Pollination May, seed maturity Jul" (Fu et al. 1999). See also the description in Bobrov (1968).

Distribution and Ecology

Kazakhstan; SW Mongolia; Russia: Tuva; China: Xinjiang. At elevations of 500-700 m, in sandy places (Fu et al. 1999).

Remarkable Specimens

No data as of 2023.03.03.

Ethnobotany

Observations

See the observations on iNaturalist, accessed 2021.12.30.

Remarks

The epithet lomatolepis doesn't have a clear meaning, but may allude to the membranous margins of leaves and/or cones.

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.

Schrenk, A. G. von. 1845. Diagnoses plantum novarum, in Songaria anno 1843, a cl. Al. Schrenk lectarum. Bulletin de la Classe physico-mathématique de l'Académie impériale des sciences de Saint-Pétersbourg 3:210. Available: Biodiversity Heritage Library, accessed 2021.12.23.

See also

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