My next-door neighbor has an Ephedra in her back yard. It was sold to her as “Brigham’s tea,” but it doesn’t look like the ones she’s seen wild around here. It’s definitely something in the Ephedra genus, but I have no idea which one. (I would dearly like for it to be Ephedra nevadensis, which is supposed to be free of the stimulant ephedrine, but I have no idea how to tell that species apart from any others in the genus.)
Does anyone know how to identify precisely which species this is?
They can be difficult to ID, to me it looks like E. viridis.
Maybe it’s just a different eco-type/selection than your local populations? Or it just looks different due to growing conditions vs a plant left to survive in the wild.
Thank you! I checked iNaturalist, and it looks like all the sightings of wild Ephedras near my town are logged as Ephedra viridis, so that would mean my neighbor’s plant is the same species as the ones she’s seen in the wild. (Of course, there could be misidentifications.)
I should ask her how it looks different from others she’s seen — it’s possible it could be environmental, due to receiving more shade or more water than is normal for wild plants, for instance. Thank you for suggesting that.
Perhaps I could also ask her if she knows what part of Utah the seeds were gathered from. I think it was a different part of the state. Perhaps I could check iNaturalist and see which species seem to grow wild there.
Ideas for solving a mystery! 
