Ephedra (plant)

Genus of gymnosperms in the family Ephedraceae
the genus Ephedra, and the family Ephedraceae

as of 2021, Plants of the World Online accepted the following species:
Ephedra alata Decne. – North Africa, Arabian Peninsula
Ephedra altissima Desf. non Bové (1834), non Delile (1813), non Buch (1828) (High climbing jointfir) – North Africa, Canary Islands
Ephedra americana Humb. & Bonpl. ex Willd. – Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, Argentina, Chile
Ephedra antisyphilitica Berland ex C. A. Mey. – Clapweed, Erect Ephedra – Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Nuevo León, Coahuila, Chihuahua
Ephedra aphylla Forssk. – eastern Mediterranean from Libya and Cyprus to the Persian Gulf
Ephedra × arenicola H. C. Cutler – Arizona, Utah (hybrid, E. cutleri × E. torreyana)
Ephedra aspera Engelm. ex S. Watson – Boundary Ephedra, Pitamoreal – Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, California, Chihuahua, Durango, Zacatecas, Sinaloa, Sonora, Baja California
Ephedra aurantiaca Takht. & Pachom. – Caucasus, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan
Ephedra aurea Brullo et al. Ephedra boelckei F. A. Roig – Argentina
Ephedra botschantzevii Pachom. – Kazakhstan, Tuva region of Siberia
Ephedra breana Phil. (frutilla de campo) – Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina
Ephedra brevifoliata Ghahr. – Iran
Ephedra californica S. Watson – California Ephedra, California Jointfir – California, western Arizona, Baja California
Ephedra chengiae Yang & Ferguson
Ephedra chilensis C. Presl – Pingo pingo Chile, Argentina
Ephedra compacta Rose – widespread in much of Mexico
Ephedra coryi E. L. Reed (Cory's Ephedra) – Texas, New Mexico
Ephedra cutleri Peebles – Navajo Ephedra, Cutler's Ephedra, Cutler Mormon tea, Cutler's Jointfir – Colorado, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Wyoming
Ephedra dahurica Turcz. – Siberia, Mongolia
Ephedra dawuensis Y. Yang – Sichuan
Ephedra distachya L. – Joint pine, Jointfir – southern Europe and central Asia from Portugal to Kazakhstan
Ephedra × eleutherolepis V. A. Nikitin – Tajikistan (hybrid E. intermedia × E. strobilacea)
Ephedra equisetina Bunge – Ma huang – Caucasus, Central Asia, Siberia, Mongolia, Gansu, Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shanxi, Xinjiang
Ephedra fasciculata A. Nelson – Arizona Ephedra, Arizona Jointfir, Desert Mormon tea – Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah
Ephedra fedtschenkoae Paulsen – Central Asia, Siberia, Mongolia, Xinjiang
Ephedra foeminea Forssk. – North Africa, Somalia, Balkans, Italy, Middle East; naturalized in Santa Barbara County of California
Ephedra foliata Boiss. ex C. A. Mey. (Shrubby horsetail) – North Africa, Somalia, Middle East, India
Ephedra fragilis Desf. (joint pine) – Mediterranean, Canary Islands, Madeira
Ephedra frustillata Miers – Patagonian Ephedra – Chile, Argentina
Ephedra funerea Coville & C. V. Morton – Death Valley Ephedra, Death Valley Jointfir – California, Arizona, Nevada
Ephedra gerardiana Wall. ex Klotzsch & Garcke – Gerard's Jointfir, Shan Ling Ma Huang – Himalayas, Tibet, Yunnan, Siberia, Central Asia
Ephedra gracilis Phil. ex Stapf
Ephedra holoptera Riedl – Iran
Ephedra intermedia Schrenk & C. A. Mey. (Zhong Ma Huang) – China, Siberia, Central Asia, Himalayas, Iran, Pakistan
Ephedra kardangensis P. Sharma & P. L. Uniyal – western Himalayas
Ephedra khurikensis P. Sharma & P. L. Uniyal – western Himalayas
Ephedra laristanica Assadi – Iran
Ephedra likiangensis Florin – Guizhou, Sichuan, Tibet, Yunnan
Ephedra lomatolepis Schrenk – Kazakhstan, Tuva region of Siberia
Ephedra major Host – Mediterranean, Middle East, Central Asia; from Canary Islands to Kashmir
Ephedra milleri Freitag & Maier St. – Oman, Yemen
Ephedra minuta Florin – Qinghai, Sichuan
Ephedra monosperma J. G. Gmel. ex C. A. Mey. (dan zi ma huang) – Siberia, Mongolia, much of China including Tibet and Xinjiang
Ephedra multiflora Phil. ex Stapf – Chile, Argentina
Ephedra nevadensis S. Watson – Nevada Ephedra, Nevada Jointfir, Nevada Mormon tea – Baja California, California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Oregon
Ephedra ochreata Miers – Argentina
Ephedra oxyphylla Riedl – Afghanistan
Ephedra pachyclada Boiss. – Middle East from Sinai and Yemen to Pakistan
Ephedra pangiensis Rita Singh & P. Sharma
Ephedra pedunculata Engelm. ex S. Watson – Vine Ephedra, Vine Jointfir – Texas, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, San Luis Potosí, Nuevo León, Zacatecas
Ephedra pentandra Pachom. – Iran
Ephedra procera Fisch. & C. A. Mey. − Iran, Caucasus
Ephedra przewalskii Stapf – Central Asia, Mongolia, Pakistan, Gansu, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Qinghai, Tibet
Ephedra pseudodistachya Pachom. – Siberia, Mongolia
Ephedra regeliana Florin – Xi Zi Ma Huang – Central Asia, Siberia, Pakistan, Xinjiang
Ephedra rhytidosperma Pachom., syn. E. lepidosperma C. Y. Cheng – Gansu, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Mongolia
Ephedra rituensis Y. Yang, D. Z. Fu & G. H. Zhu – Qinghai, Xinjiang, Tibet
Ephedra rupestris Benth. – Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina
Ephedra sarcocarpa Aitch. & Hemsl. – Pakistan, Afghanistan
Ephedra saxatilis (Stapf) Royle ex Florin
Ephedra sinica Stapf – Cao Ma Huang, Chinese ephedra – Mongolia, Siberia, Primorye, Manchuria
Ephedra somalensis Freitag & Maier St. – Somalia, Eritrea
Ephedra stipitata Biswas & Rita Singh
Ephedra strobilacea Bunge – Iran, Central Asia
Ephedra strongylensis Brullo et al. Ephedra sumlingensis P. Sharma & P. L. Uniyal – western Himalayas
Ephedra tilhoana Maire – Chad
Ephedra torreyana S. Watson – Torrey's Ephedra, Torrey's Jointfir, Torrey's Mormon tea, Cañutillo – Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Chihuahua
Ephedra transitoria Riedl – Iraq, Syria, Palestine, Saudi Arabia
Ephedra triandra Tul. − Bolivia, Argentina
Ephedra trifurca Torrey ex S. Watson – Longleaf Ephedra, Longleaf Jointfir, Longleaf Mormon tea, Popotilla, Teposote – California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Chihuahua, Sonora, Baja California
Ephedra trifurcata Zöllner
Ephedra tweedieana C. A. Mey. – Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay
Ephedra viridis Coville – Green Ephedra, Green Mormon tea – California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, Oregon
Ephedra vvedenskyi Pachom. – Iran, Caucasus, Turkmenistan
Ephedra yangthangensis Prabha Sharma & Rita Singh – Yangthang to Ka, Leo, Nako, Chango, Chulling, Sumdo, Hoorling and Lira of Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh

The genus is found worldwide, in desert regions, but not in Australia. and have been used as dietary supplements, mainly for weight loss. The drug ephedrine is used to prevent low blood pressure during spinal anesthesia.

Alkaloids obtained from the species of Ephedra used in herbal medicines, which are used to synthetically prepare pseudoephedrine and ephedrine, can cause cardiovascular events. For a review of the alkaloid distribution in different species of the genus Ephedra see Jian fang Cui (1991). Other American and European species of Ephedra, e. g. Ephedra nevadensis (Nevada Mormon tea) have not been systematically assayed; based on unpublished field investigations, they contain very low levels (less than 0.1%) or none at all.