Ephedra is a medicinal preparation from the plant Ephedra sinica. Known in Chinese as ma huang (麻黃; pinyin: má huáng, which literally translates into English as "hemp yellowed"). Several additional species belonging to the genus ephedra have traditionally been used for a variety of medicinal purposes, and are a possible candidate for the Soma plant of Indo-Iranian religion. It has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for more than 2,000 years.