Ephedra

Read about Ephedra in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture
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? Ephedra
Ephedra distachya in France
Plant Info
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Gnetophyta Class: Gnetopsida Order: Ephedrales Family: Ephedraceae Genus: Ephedra L.
Species
See text.

This article is about the genus Ephedra. For the use of the plant in medicine, see Ephedra.

Ephedra is a genus of gymnosperm shrubs, the only genus in the family Ephedraceae and order Ephedrales. These plants occur in dry climates over a wide area mainly in the Northern Hemisphere, across southern Europe, north Africa, southwest and central Asia, southwestern North America, and, in the Southern Hemisphere, in South America south to Patagonia. They are also called Joint-pine, Jointfir, or Mormon-tea. The Chinese name is 麻黄, má huáng, which means "yellow hemp". Ephedra is also sometimes called sea grape (from the French raisin de mer), although that is also a common name for Coccoloba uvifera.

Medical Uses

Main article: Ephedra

Plants of the Ephedra genus, including E. sinica and others, have traditionally been used by indigenous people for a variety of medicinal purposes, including treatment of asthma, hay fever, and the common cold. They have also been proposed as a candidate for the Soma plant of Indo-Iranian religion. The alkaloids ephedrine and pseudoephedrine are active constituents of E. sinica and other members of the genus. These compounds are sympathomimetics with stimulant and decongestant qualities and are related chemically to the amphetamines.

Species

The following list of species is from the Gymnosperm Database page for Ephedra.

• Ephedra alata Decne
• Ephedra altissima Desf.
• Ephedra antisyphilitica Berl. ex C.A.Meyer - Clapweed, Erect Ephedra
• Ephedra aspera Engelm. ex S.Wats. - Boundary Ephedra, Pitamoreal
• Ephedra californica S.Wats. - California Ephedra, California Jointfir
• Ephedra coryi E.L.Reed - Cory's Ephedra
• Ephedra cutleri Peebles - Navajo Ephedra, Cutler's Ephedra, Cutler Mormon-tea, Cutler's Jointfir
• Ephedra distachya L. - Joint-pine, Jointfir
  • Ephedra distachya subsp. helvetica (C.A.Meyer) Aschers. & Graebn.
• Ephedra equisetina Bunge - Ma huang
• Ephedra fasciculata A.Nels. - Arizona Ephedra, Arizona Jointfir, Desert Mormon-tea
• Ephedra fedtschenkoae Pauls.
• Ephedra fragilis Desf.
  • Ephedra fragilis subsp. campylopoda (C.A.Meyer) Aschers. & Graebn.
• Ephedra frustillata Miers - Patagonian Ephedra
• Ephedra funerea Coville & Morton - Death Valley Ephedra, Death Valley Jointfir
• Ephedra gerardiana Wallich ex C.A.Meyer - Gerard's Jointfir, Shan Ling Ma Huang
• Ephedra intermedia Schrenk ex C.A.Meyer
• Ephedra lepidosperma C.Y.Cheng
  

  Ephedra distachya
• Ephedra likiangensis Florin
• Ephedra macedonica Kos.
• Ephedra major Host
  • Ephedra major subsp. procera Fischer & C.A.Meyer
• Ephedra minuta Florin
• Ephedra monosperma C.A.Meyer
• Ephedra nevadensis S.Wats. - Nevada Ephedra, Nevada Jointfir, Nevada Mormon-tea
• Ephedra pedunculata Engelm. ex S.Wats. - Vine Ephedra, Vine Jointfir
• Ephedra przewalskii Stapf
  • Ephedra przewalskii var. kaschgarica (B.Fedtsch. & Bobr.) C.Y.Cheng
• Ephedra regeliana Florin - Xi Zi Ma Huang
• Ephedra saxatilis (Stapf) Royle ex Florin
• Ephedra sinica Stapf - Cao Ma Huang, Chinese ephedra
• Ephedra torreyana S.Wats. - Torrey's Ephedra, Torrey's Jointfir, Torrey's Mormon-tea, Cañutillo
• Ephedra trifurca Torrey ex S.Wats. - Longleaf Ephedra, Longleaf Jointfir, Longleaf Mormon-tea, Popotilla, Teposote
• Ephedra viridis Coville - Green Ephedra, Green Mormon-tea

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  Ephedra antisyphilitica

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  Ephedra distachya

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  Ephedra fragilis
  Male plant with cones

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  Ephedra fragilis
  Staminate (male) cones

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  Ephedra viridis
  in western Nevada