ephedra id help?

[flegmatik]

Howdy all, new member here with id question regarding ephedra sp
not sure if the one on the left is actually ephedra or not, middle one is for sure but looking for any help re which species, and the one on the right i believe is ephedra fragilis. not sure if there is enough info in the pic for anyone to provide more info but if there is that would be great.. very much appreciated.

[the germinator]

Welcome flegmatik, it's hard to tell 'cos so many Ephedra sp look so similar and also the pics are not the best (size-wise) but I think the middle 1 may be E viridis...

The brown 1 looks a little bit like Casuarina sp...

[culebra]

The one on the right looks like E.fragilis...
can you get bigger pics?

[the germinator]

The 1 on the right looks a bit like E distachya to me, fragilis is usually more erect, this 1 looks more droopy/weepy, like a low ground-covering sp, like distachya/vulgaris... Judging by the curved stem as opposed to sharp angled joints like the one in the middle.
But I can't be sure, could be relatively confident if the pics were bigger...

[culebra]

is the one on the right one plant or two? they look different?
the small thing to the left of the far right looks like distachya, far right looks like fragilis?
if they are off the same plant then I'd go with distachya.

[sketchykid]

....and the next question is, where did you get them Flegmatik?
Bah....just kiddin, I wouldn't post it up

Welcome aboard mate!

[flegmatik]

thanks for all the responses, unfortunately when reducing the image to post i didn't save the original so i cant repost.

Welcome flegmatik, it's hard to tell 'cos so many Ephedra sp look so similar and also the pics are not the best (size-wise) but I think the middle 1 may be E viridis...

The brown 1 looks a little bit like Casuarina sp...

germinator, viridis was my guess also, as for the one on the left it had dried out completely before the pic was taken (stuck in my scanner and scanned actually) which is why the colour is so different to the others, but I think you may be right in that it isnt ephedra as it didnt break apart at the joints like the ephedra I have played around with do.

the one on the right hand side is fragilis (as far as the person who owns the plant told me anyway) and the pic shows two different cuts off the same plant. the middle one is growing next to a railway station somewhere in vic, so anyone that catches trains in vic keep your eyes peeled lol.

the friend with the fragilis said when he has been cleaning up his garden he has sometimes pulled out stray bits with roots on it and if it wont kill his plant (which is the last thing i want to be responsible for) hes happy to give me a decent cutting (still cutting if its got roots?) but before he does that i thought i would check if i could get a plant going with this method, i am aware that you cant grow it from cuttings as such but is it different if you have a decent amount of root attached? like i said last thing i want to do is make him kill his pride and joy.. especially if its a pointless excercise from the start..

thanks again for the replies, and if anyone has experience with the cutting thing would appreciate the feedback

[sketchykid]

i thought i would check if i could get a plant going with this method

I would give it a go, my initial response would be yes,
but I've never done it and I give way to greater experience.....

[the germinator]

If its throwing up suckers then you can divide 'em at the roots, I've done it with E distachya.

[flegmatik]

excuse my noobness but "throwing up suckers"? meaning? having spent the last decade in an apartment and only recently bought a place with a yard with which i can actually play around with plants I have a lot to learn and a lot of catching up to do. was there any special steps you took with your E. distachya or just stick it in the ground?

cheers

[manteufel]

from memory i remember each species had it's own unique stipule shape, some were really long, other short and flat, etc, once u recognise these it can be much easier to differentiate between the common species

rough example below, but stipules are present at the nodes, in the case of ephedra, at the nodes between its joints.

[the germinator]

excuse my noobness but "throwing up suckers"? meaning?

Sorry bloke! Well if the plant's base circumference is spreading like a ground cover and the root mass is that so you can pinch out a good clump of root making sure that it has a/some shoots of healthy green sections on top, or if the plant leans and crawls along the ground and strikes roots where it touches the ground, then it should be possible to propagate.
Ya' gotta get a good bit of root with it though or it may not take, I've tried this 3 times of 3 separate E distachya plants, 2 took and they are both really booming, 1's a female which already bears fruit, it was propagated about 2 years ago. The other is a male which was propagated about 3 or 4 months ago (from a very mature plant) and is already flowering quite well so hopefully I'll get seed off the fem soon.

Hey fleg, I think most RBGs usually do plant id-ing, there are a shit-load of Eph sp and some look exact to untrained eyes, but the id-ers at the RBG will get it right. I'm guessing there's a possibility that dissection of the aerials may be needed to differentiate between certain sps, but that's just my speculation.

[flegmatik]

Sorry bloke!

hey unless you slept with my better half you have nothing to apologize for.. (if you did, who could blame you.. great legs and boobs, good for you!)
she obviously has more of a green thumb than i do also as she was quick to correct me when i mistakenly advised her that throwing up suckers had something to do with the plant being bulimic, which is why its so skinny. regardless thanks for the info, i'll give it a try and see how we go. re the RGB id'ing plants i presume there is a charge for this service? any idea how much?..never mind im just being lazy ill check their website. wonder if they provide a germination service also lol.

cheers again ppl

[the germinator]

Now & then they have a day when they'll do it for free, dunno how to find out when these day sare though, maybe check out 1 o' them groups like "friends of the RBG", or ring 'em is prolly best.

[culebra]

Yeah I'd go with asking the RBG id-folk.
they know their stuff, as they should. there are so many similar Ephedra species.
If you are an Ephedra fan wilst there you might as well check theirs out too:
http://www.rbg.vic.gov.au/dbpages/rbgce ... nsus/fetch
edit: type "Ephedra" in Find.

btw the plant is legal to grow here, just don't harvest to use cos that is naughty, well other than E.viridis, maybe.