Ephedra is a strange and distinctive plant best known today for its use in traditional medicines. Despite its shrubby, conifer-like appearance (hence the names “jointfir” or “jointpine”) it belongs to the Gnetophyta, a small, ancient, and highly divergent group of gymnosperms. Only three living genera represent this group today: Gnetum, a tropical climber with broad leaves; Welwitschia, a bizarre desert-dweller with only two giant, tattered leaves; and Ephedra, a drought-tolerant shrub found in dry, open landscapes. Living Ephedra has a wide but patchy distribution in arid or semi-arid environments across Eurasia, the Americas, and North Africa. Fossils suggest this was also more-or-less true of their Cretaceous ancestors. Ephedroid plants first appear in the fossil record during the Jurassic, with distinctive features of the modern genus, such as jointed stems, reduced leaves, and drought adaptations, already present by the Early Cretaceous. Fossils are known from sites in Asia, Europe, North and South America, and even Antarctica, indicating a broad geographic spread. Though small and often overlooked, ephedroid plants likely formed an important part of the ground layer in open habitats, playing an underappreciated but persistent role in the Mesozoic landscape.