Two New Species of Ephedra (Ephedraceae) from the Western Himalayan Region

A review of Ephedra species of the Western Himalayan region led to the recognition of two new species, Ephedra kardangensis Sharma & Uniyal sp. nov. and E. khurikensis Sharma & Uniyal sp. nov. The most distinctive characters observed are shape and size of male strobilus, number of bracts, length of synangiophore with synangia, shape and size of female strobilus, number of bracts, size and color of seeds, and several features of the micropyle for morphological and statistical analysis (Parametric MANOVA and Principal Components Analysis). These species are most similar to E. intermedia.