Studies on the diversity and taxonomy of Ephedra plants.

我们在亚洲、非洲、欧洲和美国的12个国家进行了实地调查，共收集到麻黄属28个分类群，其中包括麻黄属和中华麻黄属。对这些标本的跨学科研究表明，中华龙须草的解剖和化学多样性在很大程度上是由栖息地的降水或湿度控制的，但栽培实验也表明，遗传因素对其影响较小。在这些分析的基础上，我们发现虽然一些研究人员认为它们是同名的，但它们是不同的类群。

We have carried out field investigations in 12 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, and USA and collected 28 taxa of Ephedra including E. distachya and E. sinica. Interdisciplinary study of these samples clarified that the anatomical and chemical diversities in E. sinica were largely controlled by the precipitation or wetness of the habitat, but cultivation experiments also indicated minor control by genetic factors. Based on these analyses, we showed that E. distachya and E. sinica were different taxa although some researchers regarded them as synonymous.