Random Nature #50

Transitional Species:  The family Ephedraceae either has one or three surviving genera of gymnosperms...non-flowering, seed-bearing plants (like conifers, cycads, and gingkoes).  There is considerable debate as to how to classify these genera.  Most include just the genus Ephedra in the family and put Gnetum and the bizarre Welwitschia into their own families.  They are all primitive conifers, and they are probably the closest links between gymnosperms and angiosperms--flowering plants.

The name ephedra comes from the Greek term meaning horsetail.  There are 35-45 species within Ephedra, all of which are shrubby perennials composed of jointed green stems from a central base, with small, scaly leaves only at the joints (pictures here and here).  These deep taprooted plants are adapted to the drier regions of the globe, occurring on all the continents but Australia and Antarctica.  The plants are either male or female and produce papery pollen cones or ovulate cones, which can be brightly colored when mature.

Mormon Tea:  There are five species of Ephedra (antisyphilitica, californica, nevadensis, torreyana, and trifurca) that grow in North America, mostly in the Southwest and into the desert regions in Mexico.  They usually grow 3-5 feet high and about 5 feet wide (but can get much larger), and are typically called Mormon tea or joint firs.  These are tough plants that provide important browse for deer, bison, antelope, and sometimes range animals.  However, the seedlings can be killed by the overgrazing of cattle.

The Ephedra species in the Americas contain negligible amounts of the ephedra alkaloids.  However, they do naturally contain pseudoephedrine, making the tea a good non-drowsy decongestant.  As an herbal drink, the piney-flavored Mormon tea (most commonly made from the dried stems of trifurca) is acceptable under the LDS Church's Word of Wisdom.  It pays to read the label though, as some of the Mormon teas on the market are made from other Ephedra species which do contain ephedra alkaloids.    

The charmingly named Ephedra antisyphilitica (gray ephedra, a name also sometimes used for nevadensis) is a native of Oklahoma and Texas into Mexico.  It is called clapweed or whorehouse tea because of its supposed (and still unproven) ability to treat the first stage of syphilis and other venereal diseases.  That tea, made from the dried stems, was an herbal remedy adopted from tribes in the Southwest.  It was also used by various tribes for backache and to treat stomach and kidney ailments.

Extracts:  There are 12 species of Ephedras that produce sufficient quantities of ephedrine (and pseudoephedrine) to make extraction worthwhile.  All of them are Asian and Mediterranean species.  Just five, all Asian species, are of commercial importance; equisetina, gerardiana, intermedia, major, and sinica. 

The Chinese have harvested equisetina and sinica (sometimes called ephedra grass) for several thousand years.  Both are used to prepare ma huang, which is used as a decongestant and for asthma treatment.  The people of northern India and Pakistan have used gerardiana similarly for treating various types of congestion.  The Chinese also use ma huang as a stimulant beverage, brewing it in the same way one would make instant coffee.  The beverage has about three times the ephedrine as the plant material itself.  FYI...by weight at harvest, sinica is 0.76 percent ephedrine and 0.28 percent pseudoephedrine.

All three of these species thrive in poor soils, hot and dry summers, and brutal winters.  Sinica is commonly found from northern China to Outer Mongolia, equisetina is found in Inner Mongolia, and gerardiana is found throughout the Himalayan region.

Ephedra seedlings are not fast-growing, so it can take up to four years for the plants to reach a size that they can withstand annual harvesting of their stems while producing a good alkaloid content.  The process can be accelerated by dividing the rooted runners which older plants readily produce.

Farming:  Ephedrine was isolated from Ephedra plant material in 1887.  It wasn't until the 1920s when the drug was investigated in the U.S.  It quickly gained use as a decongestant and asthma medication.  When the Japanese invaded Manchuria in 1929, the U.S. became worried that it would be cut off from Chinese ephedra supplies, depriving us of a valued source of medications.  Thus, the government quickly initiated studies in South Dakota (run through 1938) in the growing and harvesting of sinica.

In these experiments, the government learned that from an acre of four-year-old sinica plants, one can harvest over 5 tons of stems, which will yield about 80 pounds of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine alkaloids.  That presumes a labor-intensive type of fall harvesting (when ephedra levels are much higher) that leaves the core stems in place.  If the ephedra is mown, that year's harvest would be larger at the expense of stunting the plants and their ephedra content for future harvests.  Natural drying is preferred, as artificial drying lowers the alkaloid levels in the product.

Nowadays, we could ask the Chinese how they grow ephedra grass on state-run farms...but we'd likely find that with cheap and plentiful manpower, there is little need for modern methods.  Most of the world's ephedrine (and pseudoephedrine) is produced in nine factories in China, India, Germany, and the Czech Republic.  China is the only country that still mass produces ephedrine from the grass, but it also synthesizes ephedrine...and gets a better-quality product that is 60 percent cheaper to make. 

And, China (like Mexico) is home to meth superlabs which export some of the product to other nations (including the U.S. in Hawaii and Guam).