NL·0054Herbarium of the Nature Library
- Name
- Ephedra sinica
- Family
- Ephedraceae
- Native to
- Northern China, Mongolia and adjacent Russia
- Habitat
- Steppe, Semi-desert, Sandy plains
Chinese ephedra (Ma huang)
Ephedra sinica
Also calledMáhuáng 麻黄 (Chinese) · Mao 마황 (Korean, mahwang) · Mao マオウ (Japanese) · Chinesisches Meerträubel (German) · Efedra (Spanish)
A leafless, broom-like gymnosperm of the steppes whose green jointed stems contain ephedrine. For two thousand years it has been a Chinese remedy for colds and asthma; in the 20th century it became a decongestant drug, and later a deadly diet supplement.
Ephedra sinica is a species of Ephedra in the plant family Ephedraceae. Native to Mongolia, northern China, and Russia, it is a shrub found on arid highland slopes, dry river beds, steppes, fields or mountain sides. Wikipedia
What it can do
- iMakes ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, which mimic adrenaline, open the airways and raise heart rate and blood pressure
- iiLeaves are reduced to tiny scales; the green stems do the photosynthesis
- iiiA gymnosperm related to conifers, with fleshy red seed cones instead of flowers and fruit
- ivSpreading roots bind sandy steppe soils
At the table
Not a food. The stems are potent stimulants.
In the medicine cabinet
| Tradition | Use |
|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese Medicine | Mahuang to release the exterior and induce sweating in wind-cold colds, calm wheezing and promote urination; core herb of Mahuang Tang |
| Kampo (Japanese) | Ephedra in formulas such as kakkonto for early colds and stiffness |
| Modern medicine | Ephedrine for low blood pressure during anaesthesia; pseudoephedrine as a nasal decongestant |
Weight of evidence
Strong. An approved drug, or consistent results in well-run clinical trials.
Active compounds
ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, norephedrine, methylephedrine, norpseudoephedrine (cathine)
Fruit & seed
Fruit
Fleshy seed cone (not a true fruit)
Ripens: Summer
Red, berry-like cone of fleshy bracts around 1–2 seeds.
Seed
~5–6 mm
Dark brown, ovoid seeds
- Dispersal
- Birds and small mammals eat the fleshy cones
- Germination
- 1–3 weeks at 15–20 °C in sandy mix
Photographs from Wikimedia Commons under open licences; hover for the photographer, click for the file.
How to grow it
Hardiness (USDA zones)
USDA 4–9. Survives winters down to about -34 °C.
- Light
- Full sun
- Water
- Very low
- Soil
- Sandy or gravelly, sharply drained
- Propagation
- Seed or division
- To harvest
- Stems in autumn from year 2–3
- Climates
- Continental, Semi-arid, Arid
- 1Grow only where legal; possession is restricted in some countries
- 2Sow in a gritty, sandy mix in spring
- 3Plant in full sun in a dry bed
- 4Water rarely; it rots in wet soil
Can it grow where you are?
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Native range
Northern China, Mongolia and adjacent Russia
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the old herbals & bestiaries
Woodcuts and engravings matched from the Source Library’s scanned books by name. Plates marked “relative” show a close kin rather than this exact species. Click a plate to read the page it came from, with translation.
Six Groups of the History of Plants
Rembert Dodoens · 1583 · p.95
Bencao Gangmu, Volume Upper-Middle
李時珍 · 1596 · p.180
Elements of Botany
Joseph Pitton de Tournefort · 1719 · p.228
Illustrated Compendium of Materia Medica (Vol. 11)
吳其濬 · 1848 · p.91
Illustrated Herbal Primer
Chen Jiamo (陳嘉謨) · 1628 · p.107
Illustrated Herbal Primer
Chen Jiamo (陳嘉謨) · 1628 · p.107
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Ephedra sinica in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
Marginalia
The Shennong Bencao Jing lists mahuang for coughs and fevers, and Zhang Zhongjing's Shanghan Lun (c. 200 CE) built a whole family of formulas around it. In 1885 the Japanese chemist Nagai Nagayoshi isolated ephedrine, and in the 1920s Chen and Schmidt introduced it to Western medicine.
Curiosity
Ephedra is not a flowering plant: it belongs to the Gnetophytes, an odd group of gymnosperms related to conifers.
Kinship
Photographs: iNaturalist contributors under the licences shown. Records: GBIF.org. Historical plates: Source Library (CC BY-SA 4.0; originals public domain). Summary text: Nature Library editors and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Medicinal and edibility notes are historical and educational, not advice. iNaturalist taxon 135489.