Ephedra Linnaeus
Creators: name: Brullo, Salvatore
name: Brullo, Cristian
name: Cambria, Salvatore
name: Ilardi, Vincenzo
name: Siracusa, Giuseppe
name: Minissale, Pietro
name: Galdo, Gianpietro Giusso Del
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Plantae
Tracheophyta
Gnetopsida
Ephedrales
Ephedraceae
Ephedra

description: Key to the species of Ephedra genus occurring in Sicily
1. Female cones always biovulate ........................................................................................................................................ E. distachya
- Female cones usually uniovulate........................................................................................................................................................2
2. Twigs 0.4–0.7 in diameter, upper bracts of female cones fused for 1/3–1/2 of its length, female cones 5.0– 5.5 mm long, ripe female cones 5.0–6.0 mm long................................................................................................................................................. E. nebrodensis
- Twigs 0.8–3.5 in diameter, upper bracts of female cones fused for 2/3–7/8 of its length, female cones 5.5–9.0 mm long, ripe female cones 6.0–9.0 mm long.......................................................................................................................................................................3
3. Branches easily disarticulating, smooth or slightly scabrous along the ribs, leaves in whorls of 3 (sometimes opposite), leaves fused for 2/3 of their length, female cones 7.–9.0 mm long, ovule 5.5–6.0 mm long ................................................................... E. fragilis
- Branches hardly disarticulating, more or less scabrous along the ribs, leaves always opposite, leaves 2–3 mm long fused for most of their length, female cones 5.5–7.0 mm long, ovule 4.0– 4.5 mm long...........................................................................................4
4. Twigs 1.5–2.5 mm in diameter, female cones with upper bract 6.0– 6.5 mm long, micropilar tube ca. 2.5 mm long, ripe female strobilus 7.0–8.0 mm long with bracts yellow-gold, seed long-ovoid, 6.0– 6.5 mm long, exserted 0,5– 1 mm from upper bracts ...... ................................................................................................................................................................................................. E.aurea
- Twigs 0.8–1.2 mm in diameter, female cones with upper bract 4.5–5 mm long, micropilar tube ca. 1.5 mm long, ripe female strobilus 6.0–7.0 mm long with bracts pale red, seed ellipsoid, 5.0– 5.5 mm long, exserted 1–2 mm from upper bracts ................... .................................................................................................................................................................................... E. strongylensis
description: Published as part of Brullo, Salvatore, Brullo, Cristian, Cambria, Salvatore, Ilardi, Vincenzo, Siracusa, Giuseppe, Minissale, Pietro & Galdo, Gianpietro Giusso Del, 2022, Ephedra strongylensis (Ephedraceae), a new species from Aeolian islands (Sicily), pp. 250-264 in Phytotaxa 576 (3) on page 261, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.576.3.2, http://zenodo.org/record/7473533