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Ephedra (genus)

Introduction

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

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.[1] 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

Species

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

References

References

  1. ↑ Abourashed E, El-Alfy A, Khan I, Walker L (2003). “Ephedra in perspective–a current review”. Phytother Res. 17 (7): 703–12. PMID 12916063.
External links

de:Meerträubel fa:ریش بز it:Ephedra he:שרביטן nl:Ephedra sv:Efedraväxter Template:WikiDoc Sources