Ephedra aspera

Boundary ephedra, Boundary Ephedra

Family: Ephedraceae · Type: shrub · Native

Boundary ephedra is a California native shrub found in southern Bristlecone Pine, San Jacinto, northeastern Sierra Nevada, and Desert bioregions in creosote-bush scrub and Joshua-tree woodland at elevations of 50 to 2,133 meters. Its stems are distinctive green to yellow, ranging from 30 to 200 centimeters tall, with small persistent scale-like leaves two millimeters long at each node. Growing with slender, glaucous branches that age from green to yellow, this shrub has a characteristically dark brown stem pith. Its minute leaves form small persistent sheaths that split and become swollen with age, creating a unique texture along the branching structure. The plant produces small seed cones 4.5 to 8 millimeters long with red-brown bracts that have delicate membranous margins.

Habitat: Creosote-bush scrub, Joshua-tree woodland

Elevation: 50-2133 m

Bioregions: SnBr, SnJt, SNE, D

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.