The snow lotus is named because its top looks like a lotus flower, which represents pure white love, tenacity and purity.

Saussurea involucrata (Compositae)

Saussurea involucrata (Kar.) Et Kir.) Sch.-Bip.), because its top is shaped like a lotus, so it 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.

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.

Morphological characteristics

Herbs perennial, 15-35 cm tall. The rhizome is thick and the neck is surrounded by most brown leaves. Stem stout, base 2-3 cm in diam., glabrous.

Leaves dense, basal and cauline leaves sessile, leaf blade elliptic or ovate-elliptic, 14 cm long, 2-3.5 cm wide, apex obtuse or acute, base decurrent, margin cuspidate, both surfaces glabrous; uppermost leaf bracts leaflike, membranous, yellowish, broadly ovate, 5.5-7 cm long and 2-7 cm wide, enclosing raceme, margin cuspidate.

Capitate inflorescences 10-20, total inflorescences densely globose at stem apex, without small pedicels or with short pedicels. Involucral bracts hemispherical, 1 cm in diam.; involucral bracts 3-4-layered, margin or all purple-brown, apex acute, outer layer sparsely villous, outer layer oblong, 1.1 cm long, 5 mm wide, middle and inner layer lanceolate, 1.5-1.8 cm long and 2 mm wide. Florets purple, 1.6 cm long, tube length 7 mm, eave length 9 mm.

Achene oblong, 3 mm long. Crown hairs dirty white, 2-layered, outer layer small, rough, 3 mm long, inner layer long, feathery, 1.5 cm long. Flowering and fruiting period from July to September.

Habitat of producing area

Snow lotus flowers are mostly distributed in Xinjiang Tianshan (Urumqi, Bokda Mountain, Heshuo), Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and other places. It is also distributed in Russia and Kazakhstan. [3] suitable for a variety of complex climatic environments, usually growing below the alpine snow line. The climate is changeable, hot and cold, rain and snow alternate, the highest monthly average temperature is 3-5 ℃, the lowest monthly average temperature is-19 to 21 ℃, the annual precipitation is about 800mm, the frost-free period is only about 50 days, and the soil is mainly alpine meadow soil. The growth environment is 2400 meters above sea level and 4000 meters above sea level.

Growth habit

Snow lotus grows in an extremely harsh environment, and ordinary plants can not survive at all, but snow lotus can fight snow and grow tenaciously in dozens of degrees below zero and in a thin anoxic environment. It is the unique living habits and unique growth environment of Saussurea involucrata that make it natural and rare, and create its unique pharmacological action and medicinal value.

The yield of snow lotus is extremely low. It takes five years for snow lotus to germinate to blossom. Its seeds germinate at zero degrees Celsius and grow at three to five degrees Celsius. The seedlings can withstand a low temperature of minus 21 degrees Celsius, but the actual growth period is less than two months. During this short growing period, snow lotus is five to seven times taller than other plants because of its exuberant vitality.

Mode of reproduction

Due to the special growth environment, it takes 3 to 5 years for the seeds to blossom and bear fruit. During the flowering period, the seeds are scattered in the mountains with the wind, and only the seeds in the suitable environment can germinate and grow.

Species status

Snow lotus is now relatively rare. before the 1890s, snow lotus could be collected in some mountainous areas of Xinjiang at an altitude of about 1800 meters, but it has been difficult to find below 3500 meters after the 20th century. In addition to the sharp decline in the total amount of resources, the diameter of Saussurea head has also dropped from 30 cm to only 10 cm.

Main value

medicine

Attending efficacy

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.

Application of traditional Chinese medicine

Warming the kidney and strengthening yang. For kidney deficiency and impotence, sore waist and knees; for women with irregular menstruation, metrorrhagia, and belt. The former is compatible with Cordyceps sinensis bubble wine, while the latter is compatible with Eshen, Codonopsis pilosula and stewed chicken.

Warming the meridians and dispelling the cold. It is used for women with less abdominal cold pain, amenorrhea, placenta retention and so on. 15g snow lotus, add 100ml of white wine or yellow rice wine, soak for 7 days, each take 10ml, twice a day.

Dispelling cold and resolving phlegm. For lung cold cough, phlegm, white color. Snow lotus whole grass 1-1.5 grams, research end Chongfu, 3 times a day.

Dispel wind and dehumidification. For rheumatism arthralgia, unfavorable joint flexion and extension. Snow lotus 50g, cut, liquor 500ml, soak for 10 days, 10ml each time, twice a day. Or with snow lotus injection intramuscular injection, each time 2-4 ml, has certain curative effect to rheumatic arthritis.

For snow blindness and toothache. Snow lotus 6-12 grams, eaten raw or fried in water.

For traumatic bleeding. Appropriate amount of snow lotus, smash and apply to the affected area.

Recorded in Pharmacopoeia

In the book Compendium of Materia Medica written by Zhao Xuemin in the Qing Dynasty, there are records of "the land of Greater Cold is covered with snow, the spring and summer does not disperse, there is grass in the snow, the lotus-like single stem, and Tingting is lovely in the snow" and "the land has Tianshan, snow in winter and summer, lotus in the snow, taking the Tianshan peak as the first." Nature: bitter, slightly bitter, warm; functional indications: heat-clearing and detoxification, dispelling rheumatism, detumescence, pain relief.

It is recorded in the Compendium of Materia Medica: "the snow lotus is shaped like a lotus flower, which is as high as a foot, produces Yili and other places, and the one who produces the peak of Tianshan Mountain is the first." It correctly describes the shape and origin of snow lotus. Saussurea involucrata, also known as Saussurea involucrata and Saussurea involucrata, is a perennial herb of the family Compositae. it is born in the rock crevices, stone walls and glacial gravel beaches near the snow lines of Tianshan, Altai and Kunlun Mountains in Xinjiang.

Beauty

Beauty cream

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.

Specific formula

25 grams of snow lotus powder (one), 20 milliliters of aloe fresh juice, 30 milliliters of Fresh Cucumber Juice, 1 raw egg, about 10 grams of flour, 5 grams of sugar, a little essence. Mix well and put it in the refrigerator to prolong the useful life. After applying this ointment for 40-45 minutes, the ointment will dry and conjunctiva. At this time, wash the paste off gently with clean water, stick to it once a week, and feel that the skin is obviously smooth and elastic after several times. As long as it is done for 1 month, it will show quite good results, and it will make the skin white and tender, ruddy, and have obvious curative effect on freckles and black spots, and can also restore the skin with chilblains or scars.

For chloasma, 30 grams of snow lotus powder and 15 grams of mung bean powder are available. Mix evenly with a little chicken protein and smear the spot 3 times a day. After a month, chloasma and liver spots can be gradually diluted.

Protection condition

Serious mining and excavation

Wild Saussurea involucrata is propagated by seeds, and the growth period takes 6 to 8 years. If the roots are pulled out, it will be impossible for Saussurea to grow in the same place. In the 1950s and 1960s, snow lotus could be picked on gravelly slopes about 1800 meters above sea level. At that time, the area of snow lotus in Xinjiang, China was about 50 million mu, but now it is less than 10 million mu.

Every year from July to August is the season when wild snow lotus flowers are in full bloom in Tianshan, Xinjiang. However, at this time, a large number of lawbreakers come to dig crazily near the snow line above 3000 meters. Local experts have repeatedly said that if this phenomenon is not contained, within a few years, snow lotus, a precious species, may disappear from the earth.

Protective measures

In order to protect the snow lotus in Tianshan Mountain, the Snow Lotus Protection Branch of China's Xinjiang Wildlife Conservation Association launched a public publicity campaign to protect the snow lotus in Tianshan pastoral areas and tourists to stop excessive exploitation. Xinjiang Institute of physical and Chemical Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, has also used clonal tissue culture technology to artificially plant snow lotus in Tianshanchi since 2004, and some of them have blossomed, which is expected to open up a new channel to replace wild snow lotus to supply drug market demand.

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, China's State Council document No. 13 banned the mining of wild Saussurea involucrata.

In 2007, the list of key protected Wild plants in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous region (the first batch) listed Tianshan Saussurea involucrata as a first-class key protected wild plant.

Article 344 of the Criminal Law of the people's Republic of China, in violation of the provisions of the Forest Law, illegally fells or destroys precious trees or other plants under special state protection, or illegally buys, transports, processes or sells precious trees or other plants and their products under special state protection shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention or public surveillance, and concurrently be sentenced to a fine. If the circumstances are serious, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years and not more than seven years, and concurrently be sentenced to a fine.

Plant culture

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.

Plant flower language

Plant symbol

Snow lotus represents pure white love, tenacity, purity, and brings hope to people.

Implied meaning

Pure white love, tenacity, purity, bring hope to people, but also a symbol of holiness.