Ecological and pharmacognostical characteristics in Ephedra saxatilis in the Yarlung Zangbo River Valley of southeastern Tibetan Plateau, China

In the Yarlung Zangbo River Valley of the southeastern Tibetan Plateau, China (29°07′49.5"N, 92°41′11.0"E, 3256 m above sea level), we found an Ephedra saxatilis community in the xeric steppe with shrubland vegetation habitat of the broad alluvial plain of the river with soil having relatively higher water-soluble cation (Ca²⁺, 8.62; K⁺, 1.94; Mg²⁺, 2.38 mmol/100 g dry soil weight) and nitrogen (NO₃⁻, 21.78; NH₄⁺, 1.82 mmol/100 g dry soil weight) content. The ranges of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine in 13 E. saxatilis samples were as follows: ephedrine, not detected–3.03 of dry weight (%DW) and pseudoephedrine, not detected–1.36%DW. The 13 E. saxatilis plants collected in the study area showed intraspecific variability of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine with 6 samples containing ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, 6 samples containing only ephedrine, and 1 sample containing only pseudoephedrine.