Ephedra nevadensis seed

LATIN NAME: Ephedra nevadensis

COMMON NAME: Nevada Ephedra

The Nevada ephedra is a handsome, low, many-branched, evergreen shrub of the dry deserts, and its fine, slender, green, jointed, leafless stems and its small, inconspicuous, greenish flowers, followed by the small, red or orange, fleshy cones of the winged seeds, have made it a remarkable and fine plant of the dry garden. It grows as a low, spreading, many-branched, evergreen shrub, reaching up to one metre or so, with the many slender, erect, green, jointed, nearly leafless stems and, through the spring, the small, inconspicuous, greenish flowers, followed by the small, red or orange, fleshy, cone-like fruits of the winged seeds. It is a species of the flowering shrub in the ephedra family, and it is native to the dry deserts of the south-western North America, while it grows in the dry, sandy, open places, and it is known as the Nevada ephedra.

In the ephedra family it is the jointed, leafless shrub of the desert, a plant that carries the whole look of the dry lands in its slender green stems.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The ephedra family has drawn the close attention of the natural-product chemists for the potent alkaloid compounds in its parts, and the Nevada species has been examined with the utmost caution in the pharmacological papers. The plant is best appreciated as a subject of study, and it is never to be eaten or used carelessly, and it is not a home remedy by any means. The desert botanists have mapped its place in the dry lands of the south-western North America, and the ecologists have studied the deep roots that hold the soil of the desert slopes. It is a plant of great scientific interest and quiet garden value, and the growers of the desert plants keep it in their collections.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

In the dry garden, the Nevada ephedra is the architectural, jointed shrub of the desert border. Its small, red or orange, fleshy cones feed the birds and the wildlife of the dry lands, and the slender, green, jointed stems give the garden a striking, sculptural presence that nothing else quite matches. The plant is not a food and is not a casual remedy — it is best admired and studied. It grows well in the sharp, sandy, well-drained ground of the warm, sunny spot. Jointed, green and desert-tough.

These are tough little desert seeds — sow them just under the surface of pots of sharp, sandy, free-draining soil, stand the pots in a warm, sunny, airy spot and water them only when the soil is dry, and they’ll come along steadily.