膜果麻黄 mo guo ma huang

Ephedra kaschgarica B. Fedtschenko & Bobrov; E. przewalskii var. kaschgarica (B. Fedtschenko & Bobrov) C. Y. Cheng.

Shrubs erect or ascending, to 2.4 m, much branched; young branchlets green to pale brownish, internodes stout, 2.5-5 cm × 2-3 mm. Leaves in whorls of 3, rarely opposite, free part triangular, apex acute or acuminate. Cones opposite or whorled at nodes, usually borne on proximal parts of branchlets, often sessile. Bracts of pollen cones in 3 or 4 whorls of 3, rarely opposite, connate at base, with broad, membranous margin surrounding central, herbaceous keel; anthers 5-8, shortly stipitate. Seed cones subglobose; bracts in 4 or 5 whorls of 3, rarely opposite, almost completely free, connate only at base, light brown and membranous at maturity, abruptly narrowed toward base, apical whorl of bracts with female flowers; integument tube 1.5-2 mm, exserted, usually straight. Seeds (2 or)3, elongate-ovoid, 4-5 × 2-2.5 mm, concealed by scarious bracts. 2n = 14*.

Dry and sandy places; 300-3800 m. N Gansu, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, N Qinghai, Xinjiang [Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan]