|
The Ma huang (Ephedra gerardiana) belongs to Ephedraceae (the Ephedra family). It is an evergreen perennial herb that is distributed around the Himalayas from Afghanistan to Bhutan and in southwestern China. It grows on dry, rocky slopes and sandy-gravel terraces at elevations between 2400 and 5000 m. The stem is green and thin, and its nodes are surrounded by scaly leaves. The inflorescence is a yellowish mass. The thin stem contains the alkaloid ephedrine, which is the source of the Chinese herb "麻黄", which is used in Chinese medicine, for example in Kudzu Decoction. In Chinese, it is called "山岭麻黄" (shan ling ma huang).
|