Ephedra rhytidosperma

Pachomova 1967

Common names

斑子麻黄 ban zi ma huang [Chinese] (Fu et al. 1999).

Taxonomic notes

Syn.: Ephedra lepidosperma C.Y. Cheng 1975. Fu et al. (1999) state that this name was invalid "because two types (male and female) were designated in the protologue."

Description

"Subshrubs to 15(–30) cm, almost matlike; roots, stems, and branches very woody; branches short and stout, multinodular; nodes thick and knotty; green branchlets aggregated at nodes and radially arranged, thin and short; internodes 1-1.5 cm × ca. 1 mm. Leaves opposite, small, ca. 1 mm, connate for ca. 1/2 their length. Pollen cones opposite at nodes, sessile, 2-3 mm; bracts in 2 or 3 pairs; staminal column ca. 1/2 exserted, with 5-8 sessile anthers. Seed cones solitary, red and fleshy at maturity; bracts in 2(or 3) pairs, apical pair connate for ca. 1/2 their length, 2-flowered; micropylar tube ca. 1 mm. Seeds usually 2, yellowish brown, ovoid or oblong-ovoid, 4-8 × ca. 3 mm, exceeding bracts, 1/2-2/3 exserted, prominently longitudinally ridged, with dense, tiny projections. Pollination May, seed maturity Jun" (Fu et al. 1999).

Distribution and Ecology

Mongolia; China: Gansu (Baoji Shan), Nei Mongol (Helan Shan), Ningxia (Helan Shan). On dry rocky slopes and floodplains, at elevations below 1500 m (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

Citations

Cheng, W. C. et al. 1975. Acta Phytotax. Sinica 13(4): 87.

Pachomova. 1967. Not. Syst. Herb. Inst. Bot. Acad. Sci. Uzbekistan 18:51. [not available online]

See also

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