EPHEDRA

[ephe.dra] n [NL, genus name, fr. L, equisetum, fr. Gk, fr. ephedros sitting upon, fr. epi- + hedra seat--more at sit] (ca. 1889): any of a large genus (Ephedra of the family Gnetaceae) of jointed nearly leafless desert shrubs with the leaves reduced to scales at the nodes