Ephedra aspera is a species of Ephedra known by the common names rough jointfir, boundary ephedra, and pitamoreal. It is native to the southwestern United States from California to Texas and parts of northern Mexico as far south as Zacatecas. It is a resident of varied woodland and scrub plant communities.
Ephedra aspera is a highly branched shrub often exceeding in height made up of many long yellow-gold twigs. Its small leaves are just a few millimeters long. Male plants bear pollen cones 4 to 7 millimeters long. Female plants may be darker to reddish in color, bearing seed cones which are slightly larger than those of the male plant and contain only one seed each.
Shrubs are 0.5âÂÂ1.5 m in length. Bark is gray, cracked and fissured. Branches are opposite or whorled, rigid, angle of divergence is about 30ð. Twigs are pale to dark green, becoming yellow with age, not viscid, slightly to strongly scabrous, with numerous longitudinal grooves; internodes are 1âÂÂ6 cm in length. Terminal buds conic, 1âÂÂ2 mm, apex obtuse. Leaves opposite (rarely in whorls of 3), 1âÂÂ3(âÂÂ5) mm, connate to 1/2âÂÂ7/8 their length; bases thickened, brown, shredding with age, ñ persistent; apex obtuse. Pollen cones 2 (rarely 1 or whorled) at node, obovoid, 4âÂÂ7 mm, sessile or rarely on short peduncles; bracts opposite, 6âÂÂ10 pairs, yellow to red-brown, obovate, 3âÂÂ4 à2âÂÂ3 mm, membranous; bracteoles slightly exceeding bracts; sporangiophores 4âÂÂ5 mm, 1/2 exserted, with 4âÂÂ6 sessile to short-stalked (less than 1 mm) microsporangia. Seed cones usually 2 at node, ovoid, 6âÂÂ10 mm, sessile or on short, scaly peduncles; bracts opposite, 5âÂÂ7 pairs, circular, 4âÂÂ7 à2âÂÂ4 mm, membranous, with red-brown thickened center and base, margins entire. Seed 1, ellipsoid, 5âÂÂ8 à2âÂÂ4 mm, light brown to brown, smooth to slightly scabrous.