The fairy in the sky-- Tianshan snow lotus

Snow lotus, because its top is shaped like a lotus, is named snow lotus, or snow lotus for short. Perennial herbs, 15-35 cm tall. Rhizome thick, neck covered with numerous brown leaf remnants. Stems stout, glabrous. Leaves dense, basal and cauline leaves sessile, leaf blade elliptic or ovate-elliptic; uppermost leaf bracts leaflike, membranous, yellowish, enclosing raceme, margin cuspidate. Capitate inflorescences 10-20, rounded into globose inflorescences at stem apex. Involucral bracts hemispherical, 1 cm in diam.; involucral bracts 3-4-layered, margin or all purple-brown. The little flower is purple. Achene is oblong. The crown hair is dirty and white. Flowering and fruiting period from July to September.

Snow lotus flower

It is distributed in many alpine regions of China, as well as in Russia and Kazakhstan. Born in rock crevices, stone walls and glacial gravel beaches near the alpine snow line, 2400-4000 meters above sea level. Tianshan has the most production and the best quality. It can be used as medicine, but also has a certain ornamental value. Tianshan Saussurea involucrata was listed as a second-class protected plant in China in 1996. Tianshan Saussurea involucrata is the only plant listed in the Red Book of Chinese plants and is a third-class endangered species in China. In 2000, the State Council document No. 13 banned the mining of wild Saussurea involucrata.

Snow lotus flower

Medicine:

Snow lotus is warm in nature, sweet and bitter in taste, entering the three meridians of liver, spleen and kidney, with the functions of removing cold, strengthening yang, regulating menstruation and hemostasis. it is used for the treatment of impotence, weakness of waist and knees, irregular menstruation, metrorrhagia, rheumatoid arthritis and traumatic bleeding. "Compendium of Materia Medica" contains: snow lotus "sexual heat, can tonify Yang"; "Xinjiang Chinese herbal medicine" contains: "snow lotus warm, slightly bitter, function to dispel wind and dehumidification".

Saussurea involucrata contains proteins, amino acids, flavonoids, alkaloids and so on. It has the effects of promoting blood circulation, dispelling cold and dehumidification, stopping bleeding and detumescence, excreting endotoxin and so on.

Beauty:

It can accelerate the metabolism of the skin, reduce wrinkles and keep the skin shiny and plump. Delay aging. And it has a good effect on facial freckles, liver spots and so on.

Edible:

Snow lotus black chicken pot, snow lotus pigeon pot, snow lotus turtle soup

Snow lotus flower

Folklore:

In the past, when alpine herdsmen met snow lotus on their way, they were considered to have auspicious signs and treated each other with holy things. According to legend, the lotus flower in the snow was scattered by the fairies when the Queen Mother of Yaochi went to Tianchi to take a bath, and the Xuefeng, which is more than 5000 meters above sea level, is a beautiful mirror. Snow lotus is regarded as a divine thing. After drinking the dew drops on the bracts, it is thought that it can exorcise evil spirits and get rid of diseases and prolong life.