| Ma Huang. An erect or prostrate undershrub, 30-50 cm. tall. Branches erect, short, glaucous green, somewhat flat, 1.0-1.5 mm. thick, lightly striate lengthwise, fasciated at the nodes. Leaves opposite, reduced to scales barely 2 mm. Male flowers pedunculate or nearly sessile, grouped in catkins composed of 4-8 pairs of flowers with about 8 anthers; female flowers biflorous, pedunculate with 3-4 pairs of scales. Fruit red, globular, fleshy, 6-7 mm. long. Northern China, Mongolia, Europe. (Syn. E. distachya L.) The roots and stems contain up to 1 % of the alkaloid ephedrine C10H15NO, along with variable quantities of isomers. Ephedrine dilates the bronchi, stimulates the respiratory center, and acts as a preventive in bronchial asthma.16 Its vasoconstrictive action shrinks congested mucous membrane. The heart muscle is stimulated, inducing palpitation and hypertension; the blood pressure is raised. It stimulates the cerebral cortex and results in nervous excitability. A 1-2% solution produces mydriasis when applied locally to the iris. The stem and root are used in bronchial asthma, hay fever, trachitis. Dose, 3-10 gm. (E. equisetina Bunge. is also employed.) |
