Ephedra

Ephedra is a group of plants. It is the only one in its family, Ephedraceae. "Ephedra" species are found naturally in many places, like southwestern North America, southern Europe, northern Africa, southwest and central Asia, northern China and western South America.
"Ephedra" species often grow in the temperate zone. They often grow on shores or sandy places where they get a lot of sunlight. In English, they are often called joint-pine, jointfir, Mormon-tea. In Chinese, it is called "mahuang" ().
Some species, like "Ephedra sinica", are used in medicine.