Editing Ephedraceae

{{Short description|Family of plants}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| oldest_fossil = Early Cretaceous
| image = 2017.04.14 08.39.02 IMG 0054 - Flickr - andrey zharkikh.jpg
| image_caption = ''[[Ephedra nevadensis]]''
| image2 = Arlenea life restoration.jpg
| image2_caption = Restoration of ''[[Arlenea]]'' from the Early Cretaceous of Brazil
| parent_authority = [[Barthélemy Charles Joseph Dumortier|Dumort.]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eu-nomen.eu/portal/taxon.php?GUID=1E4EB308-C14C-49A9-8D0A-A2D3F4C4223F |title=Ephedrales Dumort. |work=EU-NOMEN |access-date=20 January 2016}}</ref>
| taxon = Ephedraceae
| authority = [[Barthélemy Charles Joseph Dumortier|Dumort.]]<ref name=Kramer>{{cite book|title=The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants, Vol. 1: Pteridophytes and Gymnosperms|year=1990|publisher=Springer-Verlag|location=Berlin|isbn=3540517944|pages=379–381| vauthors = Kramer KU, Green PS, Götz E | veditors = Kramer KU, Green PS }}</ref>
| type_genus = ''[[Ephedra (plant)|Ephedra]]''
| subdivision_ranks = Other genera
| subdivision = See text
}}

'''Ephedraceae''' is a family of [[gymnosperm]]s belonging to [[Gnetophyta]], it contains only a single extant genus, ''[[Ephedra (plant)|Ephedra]]'', as well as a number of extinct genera from the [[Early Cretaceous]].

== Taxonomy ==
<gallery mode="packed" heights="300" widths="300" caption="Fossil Ephedraceae">
File:Eamesia chinensis.png|''[[Eamesia]],'' showing male cone (B)
File:Chengia laxispicatagen.webp|''[[Chengia]]'', showing female reproductive spike (B)
File:Jianchangia verticillata.webp|''[[Jianchangia]]'', showing chlamydosperms (C) and ovulate cone (F)
File:Arlenea diagram.jpg|Diagram of ''[[Arlenea]],'' showing closeup of terminal region with female reproductive structures (B) and cross section of a female reproductive structure.(C)
</gallery>Ephedraceae is agreed to be the most [[Basal (phylogenetics)|basal]] group amongst extant gnetophytes. Members of the family typically grow as shrubs and have small, linear leaves that possess parallel veins. The fossil Ephedraceae genera show a range of morphologies transitional between the ancestral [[Glossary of botanical terms#lax|lax]] male and female reproductive structures and the highly compact reproductive structures typical of modern ''Ephedra''.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Yang |first=Yong |date=2014-02-04 |title=A systematic classification of Ephedraceae: living and fossil |url=https://biotaxa.org/Phytotaxa/article/view/phytotaxa.158.3.8 |journal=Phytotaxa |volume=158 |issue=3 |pages=283 |doi=10.11646/phytotaxa.158.3.8 |issn=1179-3163}}</ref> Modern members of ''Ephedra'' have either dry winged membranous [[bract]]s (modified leaves which surround the seed), which are dispersed by wind, leathery covered seeds, which are dispersed by seed-eating rodents, or fleshy bracts which are consumed and then dispersed by birds. Some extinct members of ''Ephedra'' from the Early Cretaceous, such as ''Ephedra carnosa'', as well as ''[[Arlenea]]'' from the Early Cretaceous of Brazil have fleshy bracts surrounding the seeds, suggesting that these seeds were dispersed by animals.<ref name=":1" />

=== Genera ===
* ''[[Ephedra (plant)|Ephedra]]'' L. Early Cretaceous-Recent
* ''[[Arlenea]]'' Ribeiro, Yang, Saraiva, Bantim, Calixto Junior et Lima, 2023<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Ribeiro |first1=Alita Maria Neves |last2=Yang |first2=Yong |last3=Saraiva |first3=Antônio Álamo Feitosa |last4=Bantim |first4=Renan Alfredo Machado |last5=Calixto Junior |first5=João Tavares |last6=de Lima |first6=Flaviana Jorge |date=June 2023 |title=Arlenea delicata gen. et sp. nov., a new ephedroid plant from the Early Cretaceous Crato Formation, Araripe Basin, Northeast Brazil |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S2468265923000872 |journal=Plant Diversity |language=en |doi=10.1016/j.pld.2023.06.008|doi-access=free |pmc=11119550 }}</ref> [[Crato Formation]], Brazil, Early Cretaceous ([[Aptian]])
* ''[[Leongathia]]'' V.A. Krassilov, D.L. Dilcher & J.G. Douglas 1998<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Krassilov |first1=V.A. |last2=Dilcher |first2=D.L. |last3=Douglas |first3=J.G. |date=January 1998 |title=New ephedroid plant from the Lower Cretaceous Koonwarra Fossil Bed, Victoria, Australia |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03115519808619195 |journal=Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology |language=en |volume=22 |issue=2 |pages=123–133 |doi=10.1080/03115519808619195 |bibcode=1998Alch...22..123K |issn=0311-5518}}</ref> [[Koonwarra, Victoria|Koonwarra fossil bed]], Australia, Early Cretaceous (Aptian)
* ''[[Jianchangia]]'' Yang, Wang and Ferguson, 2020<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Yang |first1=Yong |last2=Wang |first2=Yingwei |last3=Ferguson |first3=David Kay |date=2020-02-04 |title=A new macrofossil ephedroid plant with unusual bract morphology from the Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of northeastern China |url= |journal=BMC Evolutionary Biology |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=19 |doi=10.1186/s12862-019-1569-y |issn=1471-2148 |pmc=7001366 |pmid=32019502 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2020BMCEE..20...19Y }}</ref> [[Jiufotang Formation]], China, Early Cretaceous (Aptian)
* ''[[Eamesia]]'' Yang, Lin and Ferguson, 2018<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Yang |first1=Yong |last2=Lin |first2=Longbiao |last3=Ferguson |first3=David K. |last4=Wang |first4=Yingwei |date=December 2018 |title=Macrofossil evidence unveiling evolution of male cones in Ephedraceae (Gnetidae) |url= |journal=BMC Evolutionary Biology |language=en |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=125 |doi=10.1186/s12862-018-1243-9 |issn=1471-2148 |pmc=6116489 |pmid=30157769 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2018BMCEE..18..125Y }}</ref> [[Yixian Formation]], China, Early Cretaceous (Aptian)
* ''[[Prognetella]]'' Krassilov et Bugdaeva, 1999 Yixian Formation, China, Early Cretaceous (Aptian) (initially interpreted as an angiosperm)<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Yang |first1=Yong |last2=Ferguson |first2=David K. |date=October 2015 |title=Macrofossil evidence unveiling evolution and ecology of early Ephedraceae |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1433831915000657 |journal=Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics |language=en |volume=17 |issue=5 |pages=331–346 |doi=10.1016/j.ppees.2015.06.006}}</ref>
* ''[[Chengia]]'' Yang, Lin & Wang, 2013,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Yang |first1=Yong |last2=Lin |first2=Longbiao |last3=Wang |first3=Qi |date=2013-03-27 |title=Chengia laxispicatagen. et sp. nov., a new ephedroid plant from the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation of western Liaoning, Northeast China: evolutionary, taxonomic, and biogeographic implications |url= |journal=BMC Evolutionary Biology |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=72 |doi=10.1186/1471-2148-13-72 |issn=1471-2148 |pmc=3626868 |pmid=23530702 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2013BMCEE..13...72Y }}</ref> Yixian Formation, China, Early Cretaceous (Aptian)
* ''[[Chaoyangia (plant)|Chaoyangia]]'' Duan, 1998<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Duan |first=Shuying |date=April 1998 |title=The oldest angiosperm—a tricarpous female reproductive fossil from western Liaoning Province, NE China |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/BF02932415 |journal=Science in China Series D: Earth Sciences |language=en |volume=41 |issue=1 |pages=14–20 |doi=10.1007/BF02932415 |s2cid=195305514 |issn=1006-9313}}</ref> Yixian Formation, China, Early Cretaceous (Aptian)
* ''[[Eragrosites]]'' Cao & Wu, 1998 Yixian Formation, China, Early Cretaceous (Aptian)
* ''[[Gurvanella]]''  Krassilov, 1982 China, Mongolia, Early Cretaceous
* ''[[Alloephedra]]'' Tao and Yang, 2003 China, Early Cretaceous (considered a synonym of ''Ephedra'' by some authors)
* ''[[Amphiephedra]]'' Miki, 1964 China, Early Cretaceous
* ''[[Beipiaoa]]'' Dilcher & al, 2001 China, Early Cretaceous
* ''[[Ephedrispermum]]'' Rydin, K.R.Pedersen, P.R.Crane et E.M.Friis, 2006 Portugal, Early Cretaceous (Aptian-Albian)
* ''[[Ephedrites]]'' Guo and Wu, 2000 China, Early Cretaceous
* ''[[Erenia]]'' Krassilov, 1982 China, Mongolia, Early Cretaceous
* ''[[Liaoxia]]''<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Rydin |first1=C. |last2=Wu |first2=S. Q. |last3=Friis |first3=E. M. |date=December 2006 |title=Liaoxia Cao et S.Q. Wu (Gnetales): ephedroids from the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation in Liaoning, northeastern China |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s00606-006-0481-2 |journal=Plant Systematics and Evolution |language=en |volume=262 |issue=3–4 |pages=239–265 |doi=10.1007/s00606-006-0481-2 |s2cid=43425154 |issn=0378-2697}}</ref> Cao et al. 1998 China, Early Cretaceous
* ''[[Dichoephedra]]'' Ren et al. 2020<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ren |first1=Wen-Xiu |last2=Tang |first2=De-Liang |last3=Wang |first3=Zhuo-Er |last4=Sun |first4=Bai-Nian |last5=Wu |first5=Jing-Yu |last6=Ding |first6=Su-Ting |date=October 2022 |title=Dichoephedra beishanensis gen. et sp. nov., a new ephedroid plant with unusual branching patterns from the Lower Cretaceous of northwestern China |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0195667122001483 |journal=Cretaceous Research |language=en |volume=138 |pages=105284 |doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2022.105284|s2cid=249654802 }}</ref> China, Early Cretaceous
* ''[[Laiyangia]]'' P.H. Jin, 2024<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Jin |first1=Peihong |last2=Zhang |first2=Mingzhen |last3=Du |first3=Baoxia |last4=Zhang |first4=Jing |last5=Sun |first5=Bainian |date=March 2024 |title=A new gnetalean macrofossil from the Lower Cretaceous of the Laiyang Basin, eastern China |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S2468265924000222 |journal=Plant Diversity |language=en |doi=10.1016/j.pld.2024.03.002|doi-access=free |pmc=11403114 }}</ref> China, Early Cretaceous
* ?''Pseudoephedra'' Liu and Wang, 2015<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Liu |first1=Zhong-Jian |last2=Wang |first2=Xin |date=January 2016 |title=An enigmatic Ephedra -like fossil lacking micropylar tube from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Liaoning, China |journal=Palaeoworld |language=en |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=67–75 |doi=10.1016/j.palwor.2015.07.005|doi-access=free }}</ref> China, Early Cretaceous

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Taxonbar|from1=Q10376735|from2=Q18924862}}
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[[Category:Plant families]]
[[Category:Ephedraceae| ]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Barthélemy Charles Joseph Dumortier]]