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Mountain Ephedra
Ephedra viridis
  
About Mountain Ephedra (Ephedra viridis) 8 Nurseries Carry This Plant Ephedra viridis is a species of Ephedra known by the common names green ephedra and green Mormon tea. It is native to the western United States, where it is a member of varied scrub, woodland, and open habitats. This shrub is made up of many erect bright green twigs. They may yellow somewhat with age. Nodes along the twigs are marked by the tiny brown ridges which are the plant's leaves. Male plants produce pollen cones at the nodes, each under a centimeter long with protruding yellowish sporangiophores. Female plants produce seed cones which are slightly larger and contain two seeds each.
Plant Description
Plant Type
Plant Type
Shrub

Size
Size
3 - 5 ft tall

Form
Form
Upright

Growth Rate
Growth Rate
Slow

Flower Color
Flower Color
Yellow

Flowering Season
Flowering Season
Spring

Wildlife Supported
 


 
Butterflies & moths hosted ( 1 likely * ) SHOW ALL

Landscaping Information
Sun
Sun
Full Sun, Part Shade

Moisture
Moisture
Low

Nurseries
Nurseries

Ease of Care
Ease of Care
Moderately Easy

Soil Description
Soil Description
Prefers sandy or loamy soils. Does not grow well in clay soils.

Propagation
Propagation?
For propagating by seed: 1 mo. stratification. No treatment. gives nearly as good results (Stidham et al. 1980).

Sunset Zones
Sunset Zones?
1, 2*, 3*, 7*, 8*, 9*, 10*, 11*, 12*, 13, 14*, 15*, 16*, 17*, 18*, 19*, 20*, 21*, 22*, 23*, 24*

Natural Setting
Site Type
Site Type
scrub, woodland, open areas

Climate
Climate
Annual Precipitation: 3.6" - 53.7", Summer Precipitation: 0.17" - 4.40", Coldest Month: 24.5" - 61.4", Hottest Month: 46.9" - 88.8", Humidity: 1.07" - 42.79", Elevation: 284" - 10519"

Alternative Names
Common Names: Green Ephedra, Green Mormon Tea, Mormon-tea


Sources include: Wikipedia. All text shown in the "About" section of these pages is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Plant observation data provided by the participants of the California Consortia of Herbaria, Sunset information provided by Jepson Flora Project. Propogation from seed information provided by the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden from "Seed Propagation of Native California Plants" by Dara E. Emery. Sources of plant photos include CalPhotos, Wikimedia Commons, and independent plant photographers who have agreed to share their images with Calscape. Other general sources of information include Calflora, CNPS Manual of Vegetation Online, Jepson Flora Project, Las Pilitas, Theodore Payne, Tree of Life, The Xerces Society, and information provided by CNPS volunteer editors, with special thanks to Don Rideout. Climate data used in creation of plant range maps is from PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University, using 30 year (1981-2010) annual "normals" at an 800 meter spatial resolution.

Links:   Jepson eFlora Taxon Page  CalPhotos  Wikipedia  Calflora


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