Low-growing subshrub forming sparse cover across gravelly terrain
Low-growing subshrub with red seed cones intermixed in alpine turf
Erect jointed stems and fleshy red seed cones
Low upright stems with fleshy red seed cones among tundra vegetation
Jointed green stems and fleshy red seed cones low in ground cover
Fleshy red seed cone on jointed green stems
Fleshy red seed cone on jointed green stems
Fleshy red seed cones and jointed green stems
Fleshy red seed cone nestled among jointed stems
Erect jointed stems bearing a fleshy red cone
Uprooted stem cluster with a fleshy red seed cone
Hand holding an upright stem cutting with bright red seed cones
Fleshy red seed cones among jointed green stems
Erect jointed stems and bright red seed cones among low vegetation
Fleshy red seed cones and jointed green stems
Jointed green stems with scale-like leaves and red cone bases
Jointed green stems bearing fleshy red seed cones
Fleshy red seed cones on jointed green stems
Hand-held subshrub cutting with bright red seed cones
Fleshy red seed cones on low jointed stems
Red fleshy seed cones on jointed green stems held in hand
Slender jointed green stems and fleshy red seed cones
Fleshy red seed cones on jointed green stems
Fleshy red seed cones among low alpine vegetation
Fleshy red seed cones revealing a light brown seed
Slender jointed green twigs bearing a ripe red seed cone
Pollen cones clustered at a node on a green stem
Slender green jointed stems with bright orange fleshy seed cones
Pollen cones clustered at node of green jointed stem
Pollen cones clustered at a node on green photosynthetic stems
Slender jointed green stems with bright orange fleshy seed cones
Pollen cones clustered at a node on a green stem
Jointed green stems bearing fleshy orange seed cones
Pollen cones clustered at a node on a green stem
Slender jointed green stems bearing fleshy orange-red cones
Fleshy orange seed cones on slender green stems
Fleshy orange seed cones on jointed green stems
Native to Argentina Northwest, Bolivia, Chile North, Ecuador, Peru (source: POWO). Flora of the World documents 2 occurrences across 2 countries.
As seen in 2 occurrences, in La Paz, Bolivia, and Cotopaxi, Ecuador: In Cotopaxi, Ecuador, plants are low-growing subshrubs forming sparse cover on gravelly terrain and intermixed in alpine turf and tundra vegetation. Stems are slender, jointed, and erect to low-growing, mostly green to yellowish-green or olive-green. Leaves are reduced to brownish scale-like sheaths encircling the stem nodes. Seed cones are fleshy and globose to ovoid, maturing from green to bright orange to red in La Paz, Bolivia, and bright red to coral-red or pinkish-red in Cotopaxi, Ecuador; yellowish-green pollen cones clustered at the nodes were observed only in La Paz, Bolivia. Bark on older basal woody stems in Cotopaxi, Ecuador, is dark brown to yellowish and rough, sometimes peeling.
Seed cones globose to ovoid and berry-like, pale green when young and ripening to bright orange to red, composed of swollen, fleshy bracts surrounding the seeds.
Location
Bolivia, La Paz (La Paz)
-16.5525, -68.096111
Location Remarks
Sendero del Águila in the city of La Paz (Barrio de Mallasa), Calacoto section. Ca. 3380 m and above.
Collectors
No collectors specified
Location
Ecuador, Cotopaxi (La Maná Canton)
-0.868889, -79.159167
Location Remarks
Along road from Guayacan to Pucayacú, Departing main Quevedo-Latacunga Hwy. (23.2 km W of Cotopaxi-Los Ríos border 0.8 km N of Guayacan, 8.4 km S of Guasaganda.
Collectors
Carmen Ulloa Ulloa, Katya Romoleroux, Christopher Davidson, Sharon R. Christoph, J. Irazábal
Notes
Forming loose mats. Conos rojo-anaranjados.
Kingdom
Plantae
Phylum
Tracheophyta
Class
Gnetopsida
Order
Ephedrales
Family
Ephedraceae
Genus
Ephedra
Specific Epithet
americana
Authorship
Humb. & Bonpl. ex Willd.
What is EDGE?
Evolutionary distinctiveness
Lower
ED 0.9
Part of a well-represented branch of the plant tree of life, with many close relatives.
Threat status
IUCN Red List
EDGE score
0.0
Global rank
#999 of 1,090
Top 1,000 globally
This lineage appears to have diverged from its closest living relatives roughly 1 million years ago — a long, lonely branch of the plant tree of life.
Source: Gymnosperms EDGE assessment →