Simplify the following text for a Grade 9 native English-speaking person.
Original: Nagayoshi Nagai , a Japanese chemist , was the first person to isolate ephedrine from Ephedra distachya ( syn . Ephedra vulgaris ) in 1885 .
Simplified: Nagayoshi Nagai was the first person to take ephedrine from Ephedra vulgaris in 1885 .