Ephedra
E96088
Ephedra is a genus of gymnosperm shrubs known for their jointed green stems and for producing ephedrine alkaloids used in traditional medicine and stimulants.
All labels observed (5)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Ephedra canonical | 1 |
| Ephedra distachya | 1 |
| Ephedra equisetina | 1 |
| Ephedra nevadensis | 1 |
| Ephedra sinica | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T812636 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Ephedra Context triple: [Gnetophyta, containsGenus, Ephedra]
-
A.
Argemone
Argemone is a genus of prickly poppy plants known for their spiny foliage and showy, often yellow or white flowers, native mainly to the Americas.
-
B.
Taxus
Taxus is a genus of evergreen coniferous trees and shrubs, commonly known as yews, valued for their ornamental use and as a source of the anti-cancer compound paclitaxel.
-
C.
Hippophae
Hippophae is a small genus of hardy, nitrogen-fixing shrubs best known for sea buckthorn, whose bright orange berries are rich in vitamins and used in food, cosmetics, and traditional medicine.
-
D.
Pseudolarix
Pseudolarix is a small genus of deciduous coniferous trees, commonly known as golden larches, native to eastern China and valued for their ornamental golden autumn foliage.
-
E.
Chelidonium
Chelidonium is a small genus of flowering plants, commonly known as celandines, recognized for their yellow latex and traditional medicinal uses.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Ephedra Target entity description: Ephedra is a genus of gymnosperm shrubs known for their jointed green stems and for producing ephedrine alkaloids used in traditional medicine and stimulants.
-
A.
Argemone
Argemone is a genus of prickly poppy plants known for their spiny foliage and showy, often yellow or white flowers, native mainly to the Americas.
-
B.
Taxus
Taxus is a genus of evergreen coniferous trees and shrubs, commonly known as yews, valued for their ornamental use and as a source of the anti-cancer compound paclitaxel.
-
C.
Hippophae
Hippophae is a small genus of hardy, nitrogen-fixing shrubs best known for sea buckthorn, whose bright orange berries are rich in vitamins and used in food, cosmetics, and traditional medicine.
-
D.
Pseudolarix
Pseudolarix is a small genus of deciduous coniferous trees, commonly known as golden larches, native to eastern China and valued for their ornamental golden autumn foliage.
-
E.
Chelidonium
Chelidonium is a small genus of flowering plants, commonly known as celandines, recognized for their yellow latex and traditional medicinal uses.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (48)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
genus
ⓘ
gymnosperm ⓘ plant genus ⓘ |
| commonName |
Mormon tea
ⓘ
jointfir ⓘ ma huang ⓘ |
| containsCompound |
ephedrine
ⓘ
ephedrine alkaloids ⓘ pseudoephedrine ⓘ |
| distribution | arid and semi-arid regions ⓘ |
| division | Gnetophyta ⓘ |
| ecologicalPreference | dry habitats ⓘ |
| family | Ephedraceae ⓘ |
| growthForm | shrub ⓘ |
| hasVascularTissue | true ⓘ |
| historicalUse |
treatment of asthma
ⓘ
treatment of nasal congestion ⓘ weight loss preparations ⓘ |
| isEvergreen | mostly evergreen shrubs ⓘ |
| isToxic | can be toxic at high doses ⓘ |
| kingdom | Plantae ⓘ |
| leafCharacteristic | highly reduced leaves ⓘ |
| nativeTo |
Asia
ⓘ
Europe ⓘ North Africa ⓘ North America ⓘ |
| notableSpecies |
Ephedra
self-linksurface differs
ⓘ
surface form:
Ephedra distachya
Ephedra self-linksurface differs ⓘ
surface form:
Ephedra equisetina
Ephedra self-linksurface differs ⓘ
surface form:
Ephedra nevadensis
Ephedra self-linksurface differs ⓘ
surface form:
Ephedra sinica
|
| order |
Gnetophyta
ⓘ
surface form:
Gnetales
|
| parentTaxon | Ephedraceae ⓘ |
| pharmacologicalEffect |
bronchodilatory
ⓘ
cardiovascular stimulation ⓘ sympathomimetic ⓘ |
| photosynthesisType | C3 photosynthesis ⓘ |
| photosyntheticOrgan | green jointed stems ⓘ |
| pollination | wind-pollinated ⓘ |
| reasonForRegulation | risk of cardiovascular adverse events ⓘ |
| regulatoryStatus | dietary supplements containing Ephedra are banned in the United States ⓘ |
| reproduction | seed-producing ⓘ |
| reproductiveType | gymnospermous ⓘ |
| seedType | naked seeds ⓘ |
| stemCharacteristic | jointed green stems ⓘ |
| taxonRank | genus ⓘ |
| usedFor |
stimulant production
ⓘ
traditional medicine ⓘ |
| usedIn | traditional Chinese medicine ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: Ephedra Description of subject: Ephedra is a genus of gymnosperm shrubs known for their jointed green stems and for producing ephedrine alkaloids used in traditional medicine and stimulants.
Referenced by (5)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
this entity surface form:
Ephedra sinica
this entity surface form:
Ephedra nevadensis
this entity surface form:
Ephedra equisetina
this entity surface form:
Ephedra distachya