bio.wikisort.org - Plant

Ephedra funerea is a species of Ephedra, known by the common name Death Valley jointfir, Death Valley ephedra, or Mormon Tea.

Death Valley jointfir
Conservation status
Vulnerable  (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Gymnosperms
Division:	Gnetophyta
Class:	Gnetopsida
Order:	Ephedrales
Family:	Ephedraceae
Genus:	Ephedra
Species:	E. funerea
Binomial name
Ephedra funerea Coville & C. V. Morton

It is native to the Mojave Desert of California, Arizona and Nevada. It is named after a population in the Funeral Mountains, in Death Valley National Park.[2][3]

Native Americans and Mormon pioneers drank a tea brewed from this plant called Mormon Tea or Indian Tea.

Description

The Ephedra funerea shrub is made up of erect twigs which are gray-green when new and age to gray and cracked. There are tiny leaves at nodes along the twigs. Male plants produce pollen cones at the nodes which are up to 8 millimeters long, and female plants produce seed cones which are slightly longer and may grow on stalks.[4][5]

References

External links

• USDA Plants Profile
• Ephedra funerea — U.C. Photo gallery

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