Ephedra sinica

We’re really fond of Ephedra sinica. It is an extraordinary little plant, known for its botanical charms, Ma huang has also been an important plant in traditional Chinese medicine for over 5,000 years.

Should you ever find yourself in the temperate, dry, semi desert regions of Mongolia, Russia or northern China, look out for the curious Ephedra sinica. It is a strange but oddly charming perennial evergreen shrub with tiny scale-like leaves on thin, many-jointed and branched, upright stems. Each plant may only reach 50cm in height but the billows of vertical stems can spread over a metre and on the Steppes whole areas are colonised with this tough little survivor. This is one of those times when a picture is worth a thousand words.

In the spring the plant will be covered by masses of tiny clustered yellow flowers emerging from each of the brownish nodes, and then these prolific blooms develop into bright red seed capsules. Though it is the stems and branches that are often wild gathered for medicine as well as being produced from cultivated stock.

It is a hardy and drought tolerant plant so site it on poor, well-drained soils in full sun. It looks particularly good in desert or rock gardens and dry landscapes, and at only 50cm it will make fantastic groundcover. We have not grown this particular form of Ephedra for long, but have cultivated one of the North American varieties for decades, so we can say with confidence that the plant we sell as Ephedra sp. is not happy in pots. Current advice is to do the same with Ephedra sinica and plant it in the soil. We’ll update you as we are able.