prepared and drunk a tea from the plant, minus the

GRAY EPHEDRA root, to treat the first stage of syphilis.

Ephedra nevadensis S. Ephedra's unique and attractive evergreen or gray

foliage makes it a desirable species for environmental
Watson plantings. It is also used in preparation of herbal teas
Plant symbol = EPNE (Keeler 1989).

Contributed By: USDA, NRCS, National Plant Data Wildlife and livestock: Mountain quail eat Ephedra
Center & Tucson Plant Materials Center seeds. Deer, bison, and antelope browse the plant.
Gray ephedra is usually grazed heavily and seems to
be perfectly safe for grazing livestock since it induces
neither toxicity in ewes or cows, nor congenital
deformities in lambs (Keeler 1989). New seedlings
should be protected from grazing based on the key
species in the mix. Proper use is based on one-half
the current year's growth (USDA 1983).

Status
Please consult the PLANTS Web site and your State
Department of Natural Resources for this plant’s
current status, such as, state noxious status and
wetland indicator values.

Description
General: Ephedra Family (Ephedraceae). Gray
ephedra is a dioecious, xerophytic shrub with jointed
or fluted stems and scale-like leaves. Leaf scales are
Alfred Brousseau
@ Brother Eric Vogel, in twos, 2-6mm long, sheathing to about the middle,
St. Mary’s College and obtuse to acute at the apex. The inflorescence is
@ CalPhotos
conelike and the staminate flowers have united
filaments. The ovulate spikes are distinctly stalked
and the seeds are usually paired.
Warning: Ephedra is considered toxic and should be
used with caution.
Distribution
Gray ephedra occurs naturally on flats and slopes in
Alternative Names all the creosote bush deserts at mostly 1,000 to 4,000
Mormon tea, jointfir
ft (305-1,220 m) elevation and sometimes it is found
in the desert grassland up to 5,000 ft. (1,524 m). It
Use inhabits California in the eastern Mojave and
Ethnobotanic: Some tribes steeped the twigs and
Colorado deserts, southern Nevada in Clark and
drank the tea as a general beverage including the
Lincoln counties, southwestern Utah, Arizona in the
Kawaiisu in California, the Zuni in New Mexico, and
Grand Canyon area and in the Mojave. It also occurs
the White Mountain Apache of Arizona. The plant is
in Arizona and Colorado deserts, New Mexico along
still prepared as a beverage and drank today. The
the Gila and Pecos river drainage, TransPecos Texas,
Panamint and Owens Valley Paiute of California ate
the Edwards Plateau, and at scattered locations on the
the seeds. The Moapa Paiute and Shoshone in the
Rio Grande Plain, Baja California to Coahuila and
Great Basin brewed a tea from the twigs to treat
Central Mexico (Benson and Darrow 1981).
venereal diseases. The Shoshone also imbibed a tea
Characteristic species are creosotebush, white
to stimulate urination and made the powdered twigs
bursage, Joshua tree, blackbrush, catclaw, burrobush,
into poultices for sores. The Kawaiisu steeped a tea
big galleta, Indian ricegrass, black grama, bush
of the twigs for backache. The Cahuilla in southern
muhly, and desert needlegrass.
California made a tea to cure stomach and kidney
ailments and to cleanse their system. The Zuni
For current distribution, please consult the Plant References
Profile page for this species on the PLANTS Web Benson & Darrow 1981. Trees and shrubs of the
site. southwestern deserts. The University of Arizona
Press, Tucson, Arizona.
Establishment
On good seed years abundant collections of ephedra Fowler, C.S. 1986 Subsistence. pp. 64-97, IN
seeds can be obtained by flailing the fruiting Handbook of North American Indians Vol. 11 Great
branches over an open tray (Young 1986). Seed is Basin. Warren L. D'azevedo [Ed.]. Smithsonian
harvested by hand from native stands. No seed fields Institution, Washington D.C.
have been established and no work has been done to
determine the best method of mechanically Jordan, G.L. Range seeding and brush management
harvesting the seed. The plants' response to clipping of Arizona rangelands. Cooperative Extension
for harvest is also undetermined (USDA 1983). Service, Agricultural Experiment Station, University
Collected seed was cleaned with ease to a high purity of Arizona, College of Agriculture.
with a fanning mill equipped with a No. 12 top
screen and a No. 1/12 bottom screen (Kay 1975a). Kay, B.L. 1975. Test of seeds of Mojave Desert
The seeds germinate best at alternating temperature shrubs. Progress report. BLM Contract No. 53500-
requirements with quite cold nighttime temperatures. CT4-2 (N). 24pp.
Seedlings grow rapidly and can be easily transplanted
(Young 1986). Germination of gray ephedra seed Kay, B.L. C.M. Ross, W.L. Graves, & C.R. Brown
was optimal when the temperature alternated between 1977. Mojave revegetation notes. Agronomy and
20 C (16 hours) and 25 C (2 hours). It germinates Range Science No. 19.
well in the range of 10 and 20 C, but is highest at 20
C (Kay 1977). Kearney, T.H. & R.H. Peebles 1960. Arizona flora.
University of California Press, Berkeley, California.
Gray ephedra should perform best on limy sites, most
textures, excluding clay and silty clay textures. Keeler, R.F. 1989. Investigation of material and
According to Young, Evans, and Kay (1977), embryo/fetal toxicity of Ephedra viridis and Ephedra
Ephedra nevadensis appears to have an adaptation for nevadensis in sheep and cattle. Journal of Range
seed germination under osmotic potentials as low as - Management 42(1).
12 bars and thus could be seeded in salt-desert
conditions. Depth-of-planting studies resulted in the Martin, A.C., H.S. Zim, & A.L. Nelson 1951.
emergence of 30% (42% on a viable-seed basis, with American wildlife and plants: A guide to wildlife
insect damaged seed removed) from a depth of 1 cm food habits. Dover Publications, New York, New
over a 10-day period with temperatures averaging York.
about 10 C. Total emergence was similar at 2 cm,
though slightly delayed. Roughly 13% (18% viable Pater, M. 1991. Documentation of a plant accession
seed) emergence, delayed further, was recorded for 4 selected for advanced testing. USDA, NRCS,
cm (Kay 1975). Seed storage at room temperature Tucson Plant Materials Center, Tucson, Arizona.
for 12 months after maturity reduced germinability
(Young 1977). Reagan, A.B. 1929. Plants used by the White
Mountain Apache Indians of Arizona. Wisconsin
Cultivars, Improved and Selected Materials (and Archeologist 8(4):143-160.
area of origin)
EPNE is available through native plant nurseries and Stevenson, M.C. 1915. Ethnobotany of the Zuni
seed companies within its range. Please check the Indians. Pages 35-102 IN: Bureau of American
Vendor Database, expected to be on-line through the ethnology thirtieth annual report 1908-1909.
PLANTS Web site in 2001 by clicking on Plant Smithsonian Institution. Washington, D.C.
Materials. Seeds and plants of selected Ephedra
cultivars are available from many nurseries. It is best Strike, S.S. & E.D. Roeder 1994. Ethnobotany of the
to plant species from your local area, adapted to the California Indians. Volume 2. Aboriginal uses of
specific site conditions where the plants are to be California’s indigenous plants. Koeltz Scientific
grown. Books, Champaign, Illinois.

Train, P., J.R. Henrichs, & W.A. Archer 1941.

Contributions toward a flora of Nevada, No. 33.
Medicinal uses of plants by Indian tribes of Nevada.
USDA, The Division of Plant Exploration and
Introduction, Bureau of Plant Industry, Washington,
D.C.

USDA, Soil Conservation Service 1983.

Management and uses of mormon-tea. Arizona State
Office, Phoenix, Arizona.

Wyman, L.C. & S.K. Harris 1951. The ethnobotany

of the Kayenta Navaho. University of New Mexico
Publications in Biology 5. University of New
Mexico Press, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Young, J.A. & C.G. 1986. Collecting, processing

and germinating seeds of wildland plants. Timber
Press, Portland, Oregon.

Young, J.A., R.A. Evans, & B.L. Kay 1977.

Ephedra seed germination. Agronomy Journal 69.

Zigmond, M.L. 1981. Kawaiisu ethnobotany.

University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Prepared By
M. Kat & Anderson
USDA, NRCS, National Plant Data Center

Mark Pater
USDA, NRCS Tucson Plant Materials Center
Tucson, Arizona

Species Coordinator
M. Kat Anderson
USDA, NRCS, National Plant Data Center
c/o Department of Environmental Horticulture,
University of California, Davis, California

Edited 05dec00 jsp

For more information about this and other plants, please contact
your local NRCS field office or Conservation District, and visit the
PLANTS <http://plants.usda.gov> and Plant Materials Program
Web sites <http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov>.

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