Ephedra funerea

Death valley ephedra

Family: Ephedraceae · Type: shrub · Native

Death valley ephedra is a California native shrub found in the Mojave Desert on dry rocky slopes in creosote-bush scrub at elevations of 360 to 1,700 meters. Its distinctive stems grow to less than 1.5 meters tall, with gray-green twigs that age to a pale gray, featuring subtle brown pith. Growing with compact branching, this ephedra produces small grayish-green stems with minimal leaves, typically three narrow leaves less than 5 millimeters long at each node. Its leaves have persistent bases that remain attached without recurving or swelling, creating a subtle architectural form in harsh desert environments. The plant produces seed cones 9 to 13 millimeters long with distinctive obovate bracts that have wide, yellow-translucent margins, bearing one to three seeds with a slight beak.

Habitat: dry rocky slopes in creosote-bush scrub

Elevation: 360-1700 m

Bioregions: DMoj

California counties: San Bernardino, Inyo, San Diego

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