Ephedra torreyana S. Watson

vernacular Torrey's jointfir — species · Ephedraceae

USDA: EPTO
GBIF: 2653462
Rank: species

Torrey's jointfir (Ephedra torreyana) — Platephotograph · Oscar JohnsonCC BY-NC-ND source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Shrub, Subshrub
Duration: Perennial
Group: Gymnosperm
Family: Ephedraceae Dumort.
Genus: Ephedra

§2a

Native status, by region

L48 Lower 48 States Native

§2b

County-level range

· 6 counties across 1 state

Legend Native · 6 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: High
Shade: High
Moisture use: Low
Fire: Medium
Salinity: High
Anaerobic: None
CaCO₃: Medium
Hedging: None

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: -28 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 120 min.
Precipitation: 8–14 in/yr
pH range: 6.5–9.5
Root depth: 24 in min.
Fertility need: Low
Soil texture: coarse, medium

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Single Crown
Growth rate: Slow
Lifespan: Long
Mature height: 1 ft
Height @ 20 y: 1 ft
Foliage texture: Coarse
Foliage colour: Green
Porosity (summer): Porous
Porosity (winter): Porous
Flower colour: White
Fruit colour: Brown
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: None
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Early Spring
Seed abundance: Low
Seed begins: Spring
Seed ends: Spring
Spread rate: Slow
Stratify: Yes
Propagation: seed, cuttings, bare root, container

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: No Known Source
Nursery stock: No
Browse palatability: Low
Graze palatability: Low
Palatable, human: Yes
Protein potential: Low
Lumber: No
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 6 counties across 1 state.

Arizona view state ↗ 6 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/EPTO ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2653462 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T07:25:30Z