Ephedra (genus)
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 Ephedra distachya in France
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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.
[edit] 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.ChengImage:Illustration Ephedra distachya0.jpg
- 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
[edit] Uses
These plants have traditionally been used by indigenous people for a variety of medicinal purposes, and are a likely candidate for the Soma plant of Indo-Iranian religion. The alkaloids ephedrine and pseudoephedrine are the active constituents of the plant.
Ephedra fragilis Male plant with cones |
Ephedra fragilis Staminate (male) cones |
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Ephedra viridis in western Nevada |
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es:Ephedraceae fa:ریش بز fr:Raisin de mer it:Ephedra he:שרביטן nl:Ephedra pt:Ephedrales sv:Efedraväxter vi:Chi Ma hoàng zh:麻黄 ja:マオウ
