Ephedra foliata LC Taxonomic Authority: Boiss. ex C.A.Mey.  Global Assessment  Regional Assessment Region: Global  Endemic to region Synonyms Common Names alte C.A.Mey., Monogr. Ephedra: 75 (1846). (fem 'ALANDA Unknown Ephedra ciliata Fisch. & C.A.Mey. in C.A.von Meyer, Monogr SHRUBBY HORSETAIL English Ephedra foliata var. a Stapf Ephedra rollandii Maire, Bull. Soc. Hist. Nat. Afrique N. 27: 26

Upper Level Kingdom: PLANTAE Phylum: TRACHEOPHYTA Class: GNETOPSIDA Order: EPHEDRALES Family: EPHEDRACEAE Lower Level Taxonomy Rank: Infra- rank name:  Hybrid Subpopulation: Authority:

General Information Distribution Distributed in north west and eastern Africa and widespread across the Arabian peninsula, extending east to (Saharo- Sindian/Irano-Turanian distribution, Freitag & Maier-Stolte 2003).

Range Size Elevation Biogeographic Realm Area of Occupancy: Upper limit: 1700  Afrotropical Extent of Occurrence: Lower limit: 0  Antarctic Map Status: Depth  Australasian Upper limit:  Neotropical Lower limit:  Oceanian Depth Zones  Palearctic  Shallow photic  Bathyl  Hadal  Indomalayan  Photic  Abyssal  Nearctic Population Common to uncommon depending on area. It has been recorded in low levels in protected areas in Iran.

Total Population Size Minimum Population Size: Maximum Population Size: Habitat and Ecology Shrub, climbing/scrambling, occuring on rocky slopes and wadi-sides. Noted as a typical component of different types of thorn savanna in semi-arid and arid climates (Freitag & Maier-Stolte 2003). Flowers from February to May.

System Movement pattern Crop Wild Relative  Terrestrial  Freshwater  Nomadic  Congregatory/Dispersive  Is the species a wild relative of a crop?  Marine  Migratory  Altitudinally migrant

Growth From Definition Shrub - large Perennial shrub (>1m), also termed a Phanerophyte (>1m)

Threats Used medicinally and fruit is eaten as a dessert or as famine food, although these are not considered to be major threats.

Conservation Measures Occurs in numerous protected areas across its range. Collections are known from at least five botanical gardens and seed has been collected for ex-situ storage as part of the Millennium Seed Bank project.

In Place Needed 3 Research actions  3.2 Population numbers and range  3.5 Threats  3.6 Uses and harvest levels  3.9 Trends/Monitoring  4 Habitat and site-based actions  4.4 Protected areas  5 Species-based actions  5.7 Ex situ conservation actions  5.7.2 Genome resource bank 

Countries of Occurrence

PRESENCE ORIGIN Year Breeding Non- Passage Possibly ExtinctPresence Native Introduced Re- Vagrant Origin Round Season breeding migrant extinct uncertain Introduced uncertain only season only Afghanistan    Algeria    Bahrain    Chad    Djibouti    Egypt    Egypt    Sinai    Ethiopia    India    Punjab    Iran, Islamic Republic of    Iraq    Jordan    Kuwait    Mauritania    Morocco    Oman    Palestinian Territory, Occupied    Qatar    Saudi Arabia    Somalia    Turkmenistan    United Arab Emirates    Western Sahara    Yemen    Former North Yemen    Former South Yemen   

General Habitats Score Description Major Importance 2 Savanna 1UnsetSuitable 2.1 Savanna - Dry1Unset Suitable 6 Rocky areas (eg. inland cliffs, mountain peaks)1Unset Suitable 8 Desert 2Marginal Not applicable 8.1 Desert - Hot2 Marginal Not applicable

Ecosystem Services  Insufficient Information available  Species provides no ecosystem services

Species Utilisation  Species is not utilised at all

Purpose / Type of Use Subsistence National International 3. Medicine - human and veterinary  5. Manufacturing chemicals  The stems of most members of this genus contain the alkaloid ephedrine and are valuable in the treatment of asthma and many other complaints of the respiratory system ( for a Future 2010). However, E. foliata is reported to have little or no ephedrine. The crushed boiled plant is used for tanning (Norton et al. 2009).

Trend in the level of wild offtake/harvest in relation to total wild population numbers over the last five years: Unknown Trend in the amount of offtake/harvest produced through domestication/cultivation over the last five years: Unknown CITES status: Not listed

Livelihood Value  There is no information for this species regarding its livelihood value.

IUCN Red Listing Red List Assessment:(using 2001 IUCN system) Least Concern (LC)

Red List Criteria: Date Last Seen (only for EX, EW or Possibly EX species): Is the species Possibly Extinct?  Possibly Extinct Candidate?  Rationale for the Red List Assessment A widespread species and with no perceived threats at present. Occurs in numerous protected areas across the range and is known from recent collections indicating the species is still extant and the population is stable. Reason(s) for Change in Red List Category from the Previous Assessment:  Genuine Change  Nongenuine Change  No Change  Genuine (recent)  New information  Taxonomy  Same category  Genuine (since first assessment)  Knowledge of Criteria  Criteria Revisio and criteria  Incorrect data used  Other  Same category but previously change in criteria Current Population Trend: Stable Date of Assessment: 17/09/2010 Name(s) of the Assessor(s): A.Bell & S.Bachman Evaluator(s): Notes:

% population decline in the past: Time period over which the past decline has been measured for applying Criterion A or C1 (in years or generations): % population decline in the future: Time period over which the future decline has been measured for applying Criterion A or C1 (in years or generations): Number of Locations: Severely Fragmented: Number of Mature Individuals:

Bibliography Chaudhri I.I., 1963, Distribution of Gymnospermis in Western , Vegetatio5/6, 415-426, , Ewan J., 1991, Review: Untitled., Taxon.3, 537, , Freitag, H. & Maier-Stolte, M., 1994, Ephedraceae, Chorology of the trees and shrubs in south-west Asia and adjacent regions, Browicz, K., , , H. Freitag & M. Maier-Stolte, 2003, The genus Ephedra in NE Tropical Africa, Kew Bulletin, 415-426, , Mehrabian A., Naquinezhad A., Mahiny A.S., Mostafavi H., Kouchekzadeh M., 2009, Vegetation Mapping of the Mond Protected Area of Bushehr Province (South-west Iran), Journal of Integrative Plant Biology3, 251-260, , Miller, A.G. & Cope, T.A., 1996, Flora of the Arabian Peninsula and Socotra, , Edinburgh University Press, Norton, J. Abdul Majid, S. Allan, D. Al Safran, M. Boer, B. Richer, R., 2009, An Illustrated Checklist of the Flora of Qatar, , Ashford Colour Press, Gosport, UK Plants for a Future, 1996-2010, Plants For A Future, Earth, Plants, People., , , RBG Kew, 2009, World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, , Published on the Internet; http://www.kew.org/wcsp/, SEPASAL, 2009, Survey of Economic Plants for Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (SEPASAL), , SEPASAL, Jodrell Laboratory, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3AB, UK, www.kew.org/ceb/sepasal, Termeh F., Moussavi M., 1982, Plants of Kish Island, Iran., Willdenowia2, 253-286, ,