Ephedra fragilis Desf.
E. distachya sensu Poiret, non L., E. gibraltarica Boiss., E. altissima sensu Willk., non Desf.
Eng.: Ephedra, shrubby horse-tail. Spa.: Efedra, arnacho, canadillo, hierba de las coyunturas. Fre.: Ephèdre fragile. Ara.: Azrem, tamatart, amtar.
Evergreen shrub, dioecious, highly branched, up to 4 m in height when climbing between trees or rocks, but generally an upright plant of not more than 2 m in height. Branches and branchlets very fragile, which easily break by the nodes when dry, this being the main characteristic when identifying the type subspecies, and to which it owes its name. Bark of main branches grey or greyish-brown. Branchlets cylindrical, striated, green, relatively thick for the genus (1.5-4 mm diameter). Leaves so small (0.5-2 mm) that some authors have defined the species as aphyllous (leafless); these, as in other species of the genus, appear welded together to form a tiny sheath surrounding the start of the internodes. Male cones sessile, yellowish, ovoid (8-9 mm), born grouped (4-10) at the joints. Female cones or galbuli ovoid-elongated, born in the leaves axils, pedunculate, solitary, opposite, greenish and, when mature, they are wrapped by ± fleshy, red bracts.
Flowering:
In spring.
Fruiting:
Late spring-summer.
Habitat:
Forests, thickets, rocky outcrops and coastal dunes, of dry and semiarid soils from sea level to 2,000 m.
Distribution:
The species is distributed in Eurasia and North Africa. The type subspecies, distributed in the western Mediterranean and Macaronesian regions, mainly in coastal areas. Towards the S, it reaches the western and northern Sahara.
Observations:
A very polymorphic species, from which have been described numerous subspecies and varieties. Currently there are 2 accepted subspecies in North Africa. E. fragilis subsp. fragilis, a climbing shrub with branches that when dry disjoint to touch, native to the coastal and subcoastal regions of the western Mediterranean and Macaronesia; in North Africa across the whole Mediterranean region, from El Aaiun (N Atlantic Sahara) to the Golf of Gabes, with a disjunct population further E, in NE Libya. E. fragilis subsp. cossonii (Stapf) Maire, is an erect shrub, not climbing, with branches that don’t disjoint when dry; endemic to inland Morocco and Algeria, Anti-Atlas, High Atlas, Middle Atlas and almost throughout the entire Saharan Atlas.
Another similar species is E. foeminea Forssk. [E. campylopoda C.A. Mey., E. fragilis subsp. campylopoda (C.A. Mey.) K. Richt.] (Ara. Egypt: Alda, adam), a climbing shrub, creeping if there is nothing to climb on, with pendulous branches, not erect, which break only a little when dry, and with galbuli in pairs, not solitary. Grows in forests, thickets and desert areas of the eastern Mediterranean and Arabian Peninsula, in the south to Somalia. In North Africa seems to have a disjunct distribution, with populations in NE Libya and in the Sinai Peninsula.
Conservation status:
En la Lista Roja de Especies de la UICN, E. fragilis y E. foeminea se consideran como Preocupación Menor (LC) a nivel global (Bell & Bachman, 2011).