Sea grape (Ephedra distachya)
Sea grape (Ephedra distachya)
Being also called the shrubby horsetail gives a clue to the sea grapes curious appearance.
The sea grape
forms dense patches of short spiky, stems on which the leaves have been reduced to tiny scales and would make a good groundcover on dry sandy soil where, so long as there’s full sun it’ll be happy.
The rather non existing flowers are followed if you’re lucky, by bright orange berries at the end of the summer said to be sweet and juicy. This plant is also highly sort as the source of ephedrine, much used in herbal medicine