Bluestem Joint Fir, Mu zei ma huang, Mongolian Ephedra                          e-fee-DRA ek-wih-seh-TEE-nah

• Shrub with deciduous leaves and evergreen stems, upright, to 3-6 ft (0.9-1.8 m) high, similar spread.   Stems blue-green or bluish, stiff and hard, short internodes, 1-2 cm long, 1.5-2 mm thick, finely furrowed.  Leaves simple, opposite, brownish, sheath-like, fussed for 3/4 of there length.   Male (pollen) cones yellow, solitary or 3-4 per cluster, fussed for 1/3 their length; female (seed) cones opposite at nodes, more or less ovoid at maturity, 9 × 4 mm.  Fruits nearly globose, fleshy, red.
• Full sun to partial shade, heat and drought tolerant.
• Hardy to USDA Zone 4         Native range from to central Asia to northwest China.