A highly branched shrub, densely covered with white woolly hairs. The leaves are simple, obovate. The flowers are purple, in clusters, with 10 fused stamens. The fruit is oval, bladder-like, up to 5 cm in length. It grows in Central Asia and in the deserts of Kara-Kum and Kyzylkum.
Alkaloids have been isolated — spherozine, smirnovine, and smirnovinin. The shoots contain smirnovine (0.052%) in the spring (May), which is a monoacetyl derivative of spherozine, and in the autumn (August) they contain spherozine (0.09%) and smirnovinin (0.36%). These alkaloids have hypotensive properties. From the total alkaloid content, diisopropylputrescine is produced semisynthetically, which, in the form of its dihydrochloride, is marketed under the name «Isoprin»; it has both hypotensive and sedative properties.
It is prescribed in tablet form (0.025 and 0.05 g) or in 2 ml ampoules of a 2% solution for hypertension of stage I and II. Tablets are taken 2–3 times a day, with the treatment course lasting 7–10 days.