mahuang vs ephedra

mahuang and ephedra both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
mahuang	Yes	No	No	No
ephedra	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, ephedra is a hypernym of mahuang; that is, ephedra is a word with a broader meaning than mahuang:

mahuang: Chinese ephedra yielding ephedrine
ephedra: jointed and nearly leafless desert shrub having reduced scalelike leaves and reddish fleshy seeds

Other hypernyms of mahuang include joint fir.

mahuang (noun)	ephedra (noun)
Chinese ephedra yielding ephedrine	jointed and nearly leafless desert shrub having reduced scalelike leaves and reddish fleshy seeds