Ephedra is a medicinal preparation from the plant Ephedra sinica. Several additional species belonging to the genus Ephedra have traditionally been used for a variety of medicinal purposes, and are a possible candidate for the soma plant of Indo-Iranian religion. It has been used in traditional Chinese medicine, in which it is referred to as Ma Huang, for more than 2,000 years. Native Americans and Mormon pioneers drank a tea brewed from other Ephedra species, called "Mormon tea" and "Indian tea".
Ephedra is a genus of gymnosperm shrubs. The various species of Ephedra are widespread in many arid regions of the world, ranging across southwestern North America, southern Europe, northern Africa, southwest and central Asia, northern China and western South America. It is the only extant genus in its family, Ephedraceae, and order, Ephedrales, and one of the three living members of the division Gnetophyta alongside Gnetum and Welwitschia.
A strobilus is a structure present on many land plant species consisting of sporangia-bearing structures densely aggregated along a stem. Strobili are often called cones, but some botanists restrict the use of the term cone to the woody seed strobili of conifers. Strobili are characterized by a central axis surrounded by spirally arranged or decussate structures that may be modified leaves or modified stems.
Otto Stapf FRS was an Austrian born botanist and taxonomist, the son of Joseph Stapf, who worked in the Hallstatt salt-mines. He grew up in Hallstatt and later published about the archaeological plant remains from the Late Bronze- and Iron Age mines that had been uncovered by his father.
Ephedra sinica is a species of Ephedra native to Mongolia, Russia, and northeastern China.
Rosularia is a small genus of the family Crassulaceae. It includes about 28-35 species from Europe, the Himalayas, and northern Africa.
Ephedra viridis, known by the common names green Mormon tea, green ephedra, and Indian tea, is a species of Ephedra. It is indigenous to the Western United States, where it is a member of varied scrub, woodland, desert, and open habitats. It grows at 900–2,300 metres (3,000–7,500 ft) elevations.
Ephedra alata is a species of Ephedra. These plants are perennial and xerophytic gymnosperm shrubs.
Ephedra przewalskii is a species of Ephedra that is native to Central Asia, Mongolia, Pakistan, and parts of China.
Ephedra strobilacea is a species of Ephedra that is native to Iran and Central Asia.
Ephedra multiflora is a species of Ephedra that is native to northern Chile and Northwest Argentina.
Ephedra torreyana, with common names Torrey's jointfir or Torrey's Mormon tea, is a species of Ephedra that is native to the deserts and scrublands of the Southwestern United States and to the State of Chihuahua and northern Mexico.
Ephedra boelckei is a species of Ephedra that is native to Argentina.
Ephedra cutleri, the Navajo ephedra or Cutler's jointfir, is a species of Ephedra that is native to the Southwestern United States.
Ephedra altissima is a species of Ephedra that is native to the western Sahara, and also to the Canary Islands.
Ephedra foliata is a species of gymnosperm in the Ephedraceae family. It is referred to by the common name shrubby horsetail. It is native to North Africa, and Southwest Asia, from Morocco and Mauritania east to Turkmenistan, Pakistan, and Punjab State in India.
Ephedra fragilis, commonly named the joint pine, is a species of Ephedra that is native to the western Mediterranean region of southern Europe and Northern Africa, and from Madeira and the Canary Islands in the Atlantic.
Ephedra intermedia, with the Chinese common name of Zhong Ma Huang, is a species of Ephedra that is native to Siberia, Central Asia, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the western Himalayas, Tibet, Mongolia, and China.
Ephedra nevadensis, commonly known as Nevada ephedra, gray ephedra, Mormon tea and Nevada jointfir, is a species of gymnosperm native to dry areas of western North America.
