Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
Larry A. Sagers Regional Horticultural Specialist Utah State University Extension Service Thanksgiving Point Office © All Rights Reserved
Given the many news stories of the past week and the fact that La Jardin at the Rose Shop is selling a selected Ephedra, I thought it would be interesting to talk about this interesting plant.
Ephedra viridis
Taxonomy: Gymnophyta (Gymnosperm); Family Ephedraceae
Common names: Green ephedra, Mountain joint fir Mormon Tea Brigham Tea.
Archeological analysis reveals that more than 60,000 years ago, people prepared a gravesite in a cave in Iraq. Eight plants, seven of which are now recognized as medicinal plants, surrounded the buried people.
Among these plants, was a species from the Ephedraceae family, E. viridis. Several ephedra species are now used as cardiac stimulants, treatment of asthma and bronchitis and indigenous people used this plant to treat these and many other kinds of ailments.
E. viridis, commonly known as Mormon Tea, is a small to medium sized shrub, with jointed needles that range from 2-12" in length. The plant has a slight resemblance to a weather-beaten, stunted, long needled, pine. The barkless stems are bright yellow green or dark green.
The large branches spring from a deep rootstock and there is seldom a dominant center trunk. Flowers are yellow and fruits are green cones that become very brittle and brown when dry. They bloom and mature in the early spring or even late winter and are gone by April or May.
The plant gets its common name from the fact that the Mormon pioneers brewed a drink to relieve certain complaints and because other drinks were very scarce.
It grow on rocky well drained sites in Utah and throughout the Great Basin and other dry areas. It is an excellent if somewhat unusual waterwise plant for our landscapes.
Ephedrine is a herbal stimulant that is derived from some forty related species, principally North American species such as Mormon Tea and Chinese Ma Huang (E. sinica).
