Ephedra equisetina Bunge

Ma huang (en)

Species

Gymnosperms > Gnetales > Ephedraceae > Ephedra

Characteristics

Shrubs to 1(-1.5) m tall; woody stems well developed, erect or partially procumbent, thick; herbaceous branchlets virgate, bluish green or grayish green, priunose, 1-1.5 mm in diam., rigid, internodes short, 1-3 cm × 1-1.5 mm, finely furrowed. Leaves opposite, brownish, 1.5-3 mm, connate for ca. 3/4 their length, free part bluntly triangular. Pollen cones solitary or in clusters of 3 or 4 at nodes, sessile or shortly pedunculate; bracts in 3 or 4 pairs, connate for ca. 1/3 their length; staminal column slightly exserted, with 6-8 sessile anthers. Seed cones usually opposite at nodes, shortly pedunculate, elongate-ovoid or ovoid at maturity, 8-10 × 4-5 mm; bracts in 3 pairs, apical pair connate for ca. 2/3 their length, red and fleshy at maturity; integument tube to 2 mm, straight or slightly curved, slightly exserted. Seeds usually 1, elongate-ovoid, 5-7 × 2.5-3 mm. Pollination Jun-Jul, seed maturity Aug-Sep. 2n = 14*.
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A wiry shrub. The leaves are reduced to scale. Male flowers are in dense spikes. The cones occur singly.
Life form perennial
Growth form shrub
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention evergreen
Sexuality dioecy
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) 1.0
Mature height (meter) 1.5
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color -
Blooming months -
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway c3

Environment

Mountains in central and middle Asia. Dry and rocky places, 800-3000 metres in China.
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It is a temperate plant.
Light 7-9
Soil humidity 1-5
Soil texture 4-6
Soil acidity 3-7
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 6-9

Usage

Uses medicinal species
Edible fruits
Therapeutic use Anodyne (unspecified), Antitussive (unspecified), Arthritis (unspecified), Cold (unspecified), Dyspnea (unspecified), Febrifuge (unspecified), Fever (unspecified), Swelling (unspecified), Cough (unspecified), Diaphoretic (unspecified), Typhoid (unspecified), Anti-inflammatory agents (unspecified), Antineoplastic agents (unspecified), Anti-inflammatory agents (whole plant)
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Can be grown by seedlings.
Mode seedlings
Germination duration (days) -
Germination temperacture (C°) -
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -18
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Ephedra equisetina unspecified picture

Distribution

Ephedra equisetina world distribution map, present in Chile, China, Kyrgyzstan, Montenegro, Turks and Caicos Islands, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:928049-1
WFO ID wfo-0000794353
COL ID 6FNF4
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Ephedra equisetina Ephedra shennungiana Ephedra equisetina var. monoica Ephedra nebrodensis subsp. equisetina