Ephedra seeds found in an ancient burial pit may be the earliest evidence yet for the medicinal use of plants.

Alongside unusual artifacts like an ocher-coated mortar and pestle and modified animal remains, the team discovered 23 charred cone bracts of Ephedra. A bract is a modified leaf that forms the ...

Ephedra is a widely recognized medicinal herb ... that humans had an extensive understanding of how to utilize plants 15,000 years ago. Initial studies revealed signs of the earliest known ...