Ephedra fragilis
Species of seed-bearing shrub
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ephedra fragilis, commonly named the joint pine, is a species of Ephedra from the western Mediterranean region of southern Europe (Italy, Spain, and Portugal) and Northern Africa, and from Madeira and the Canary Islands in the Atlantic.[1][2][3]
| Ephedra fragilis | |
|---|---|
| |
| Ephedra fragilis Algeciras, Spain | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Gymnospermae |
| Division: | Gnetophyta |
| Class: | Gnetopsida |
| Order: | Ephedrales |
| Family: | Ephedraceae |
| Genus: | Ephedra |
| Species: | E. fragilis |
| Binomial name | |
| Ephedra fragilis | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
| |
Its habitats are rocky hills and stone walls, where it grows to 2m tall.[4]
Taxonomy
The plant was originally described by René Louiche Desfontaines in 1799 and placed in section Pseudobaccatae (=sect. Ephedra sect. Ephedra), "tribe" Scandentes by Otto Stapf in 1889.
In 1996 Robert A. Price classified E. fragilis in section Ephedra without recognizing a tribe.[5]
- Subspecies
- Ephedra fragilis subsp. cossonii (Stapf) Maire - Algeria, Morocco, Western Sahara
- Ephedra fragilis subsp. fragilis - Spain, Portugal, Balearic Islands, Sicily, Calabria, Morocco, Western Sahara, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Madeira, Canary Islands
Conservation
Ephedra fragilis is a Least Concern species on the IUCN Red List.[6]
