ABSTRACT
Numbering about 50 species worldwide, Ephedra is found in such diverse areas as Central, South and North America, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Mediterranean Europe, north and central Europe, and Russia, including Siberia (Price, 1996; Stevenson, 1993). The common Chinese name, ma huang, is said to derive from the yellow color (huang) and the numbing action (ma) of the plant (Zhu, 1998), described as “numbing” to the tongue (Hsu et al., 1986). Only the three species listed previously are official in the
In dry highland areas, on hilly slopes, mountain fields, and dry river beds, E. sinica occurs in northeastern China in the provinces of Liaoning and Jilin and in the north in the provinces of Shaanxi, Shanxi, Hebei, Henan, and Inner Mongolia. Ephedra sinica grows to a height of 20-40 cm and is described as a nearly leafless perennial herbaceous shrub with a slender woody main stem and erect aerial stems which are used medicinally (Hu, 1969). The plant is infrequently branched (1-2 mm in diameter), cylindrical, and very pale green to yellowish-green in color. The easily broken stems are light and when fractured show a reddish-brown pith and a greenish-yellow edge. Their odor is slightly aromatic and their taste is slightly bitter and astringent. The leaves are described as scaly (Tu et al., 1992), membranaceus and sheathlike, acutely triangular, with half connate basal leaves surrounding nodes. A brownish-red pith shows through the broken surface of the slender internodes (1-1.5 mm in diameter and 2.5-5 cm in length). It flowers in May with conelike inflorescences. In July, the mature plant develops red, berrylike seeds (Hu, 1969).
