Herbaceous shrubs, 20-40 cm high; Woody stems is short or prostrate, with straight or slightly curved branchlets, and thin longitudinal grooves on the surface are often not obvious. Internodes are 2.5-5.5 cm long, mostly 3-4 cm, about 2 mm in diameter, leaves are 2-lobed, and leaf sheaths account for 1/3-2/3 of the total length. Lobes are obviously triangular with sharp tips.
Male cones are mostly panicle-shaped, often with peduncles, usually 4 pairs of bracts, 7-8 stamens, filaments combined, and sparse tips slightly separated; The female cone is solitary, which is borne on the young branch and axillary on the old branch. When it matures, there are often stems at the base, so that the female cone is borne on the lateral branch, oval or oblong, with 4 pairs of bracts, the lower 3 pairs of left and right symmetrical parts account for 1/4- 1/3, and the last pair of left and right symmetrical parts is1/.
When the female cone is mature, the flesh is red, oblong, ovoid or nearly spherical, about 8 mm long and 6-7 mm in diameter; Seeds are usually 2, wrapped by bracts, not exposed or equal to bracts, dark red or grayish brown, triangular ovoid or wide ovoid, 5-6 mm long, 2.5-3.5 mm in diameter, with fine wrinkles on the surface and obvious hilum in a semicircle. The flowering period is from May to June, and the seeds mature from August to September.
Ephedra volatile oil has sweating effect, and ephedrine can increase and accelerate the secretion of human sweat glands in high temperature environment. Ephedra volatile oil emulsion has antipyretic effect. Ephedrine and pseudoephedrine can relieve bronchial smooth muscle spasm. Pseudoephedrine has obvious diuretic effect. [7] Ephedrine can excite the heart, contract blood vessels and raise blood pressure; It has obvious exciting effect on the central nervous system and can cause excitement, insomnia and anxiety. Volatile oil has inhibitory effect on influenza virus. Its methanol extract has anti-inflammatory effect. Its decoction has the function of resisting pathogenic microorganisms.