Ephedra californica
Ephedra californica is a species of Ephedra, known by the common names California jointfir, California ephedra, desert tea, Mormon tea, and cañatillo.
Distribution
The plant is native to many diverse areas of central and southern California, Baja California, and west Arizona. It grows in varied scrub and open habitats, including chaparral, arid grassland, and Creosote scrub. It is found at elevations from.Regions and landforms of distribution include:
- Mojave Desert
- Sonoran Desert
- Colorado Desert
- Peninsular Ranges
- Transverse Ranges
- Tehachapi Mountains
- Southern Sierra Nevada foothills
- San Joaquin Valley
- South California Coast Ranges
- Channel Islands
- Southern California coastal basins
- California chaparral and woodlands
- *California coastal sage and chaparral ecoregion
- *California montane chaparral and woodlands ecoregion
- *California interior chaparral and woodlands
Description
Ephedra californica is a spindly shrub made up of twigs which are greenish when new and age to a yellowish-gray color and have fine longitudinal grooves on their surfaces. The bark becomes gray-brown, and irregularly fissured and cracked. It grows in height, with similar spread.The tiny leaves grow at nodes on the twigs and dry in drought, to crumble away to leave brownish ridges there. Male plants produce clumps of pollen cones at the nodes and female plants produce egg-shaped seed cones each about long, May to June.