Ephedra tweedieana

Native to southern Brazil, Uruguay and northeastern Argentina, this subtropical shrub has slender, jointed green branches and small, reduced leaves. Its seeds develop in cones surrounded by bracts. These bracts begin green, turn red, and finally become soft and fleshy as the cones mature. Their gelatinous texture comes from mucilage produced within the bract tissue. The red structures surrounding the seeds are modified cone bracts rather than the fruits produced by flowering plants. Photographed in Colombia.