Dioecious shrubs. Wood without resin ducts. Leaves opposite, reduced. Male flowers in ± ovoid spikes with usually 2 connate bracts and 1‑3 sporangia. Female flowers 2, enclosed by a membranous 2‑partite or‑fid sheath, surrounded at base by numerous imbricate bracts. Fruit usually red, berry‑like. Seeds 2.

1 genus and 42 species distributed in warm temperate America, Asia and Europe. Represented in Pakistan by c. 9 species.

For proper identification of Ephedra, fruiting and flowering material is essential. Many sterile specimens of various taxa look alike. More collecting and study is desirable; the following account is provisional. A few species are the source of the important drug ephedrine.

Lower Taxon

• Ephedra L.