It has been overlooked by all but botanists, and even they couldn’t demonstrate much enthusiasm for Ephedra foeminea. This is a shame for the scraggly coniferous shrub, like many a Homo sapiens, only gets turned on when the moon is full.
Growing from Italy through the Balkans and south into war-torn Yemen,
E. foeminea – it has no common name – favours rugged cliff faces, ravines and even seemingly bare rock to find foot. Being a gymnosperm means it bears cones to reproduce. The blooms seem reluctant to offer their pollen, however.
A fortuitous discovery has revealed their nocturnal disposition, however. Some varieties depend on wind to spread their pollen around, but others form pollen drops to attract flies and moths. What wasn’t known was precisely when – or how – insect pollination took place, explained David Shultz, writing in Science. Botanist Catarina Rydin and her team from Stockholm University speculate that Ephedra evolved to release its pollen when the moon was brightest so that its pollinators could be as efficient as possible, as they reported in the journal Biology Letters.
There are some 40 species comprising the family
Ephredaceae, shrubs, climbers and small trees with scale-like leaves and a multitude of green branches. And while they may look odd to the uninitiated, they have long been recognized for their concealed attributes. Pollen found in the Shanidar IV burial site in Iraq, suggests its use as a medical plant dates to over 60,000 years ago. Later and further east, Ephedra equisetina, joint fir or cao ma huang, has long been used in Chinese traditional medicine. It contains the alkaloid ephedrine, once the active ingredient over-the-counter antihistamine drugs and diet formulas. However their use can raise blood pressure and cause cardiac distress. Hence, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned ephedra-containing supplements in 2004, with a similar ban applied to use in sports while remaining restricted in Canada.
In western North America several Ephedra have found favour as beverages and in traditional medicine. All apparently have lower levels of ephedrine than E. equisetina. Mormon or desert tea, E. nevadensis from the U.S. desert regions found favour as a folk medicine for colds and headache, and for urinary and venereal diseases according to
Richters invaluable herb catalogue. The suggestively named clapweed, Ephedra antisyphilitica, also from southwest U.S. down into Mexico, use is all too obvious.
Back in the Old World, Ephedra has been suggested as a possible candidate for the mysterious Soma plant of Indo-Iranian religion, popularized by Aldous Huxley in his novel Brave New World (1932). All of which is not bad for such an insignificant moon-struck botanical curiosity.
