GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post - finding blue joint-fir

06-02-2006, 11:59 PM posted to rec.gardens

wrote:
Hi, all. Plant Select recommends the Chinese shrub called ma huang or
blue joint-fir, Ephedra equisetina, for us Westerners. (I'm in New
Mexico.) Bluish leafless stems, yellow flowers in spring, red berries
in summer (maybe only if you have a female plant), extremely
drought-tolerant. Strangely enough, I can't find plants at local
nurseries or on the Web. Does anyone know where you can buy it?

Does anyone know why it's so hard to find? I'm getting paranoid enough
to wonder whether it's because of the FDA ban on the stimulant
ephedrine, which E. equisetina seems to be the best source of.

Doing a google for "plant nursery Ephedra equisetina" (sans quotes of
course) turns up quite a few hits and at first glance some of them
certainly seem to be selling it. Don't know how you feel about buying
plants that you can't lay hands upon first though.

--
John McGaw
[Knoxville, TN, USA]
http://johnmcgaw.com