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''Saussurea'' is a genus of about 300 species of flowering plants in the tribe Cardueae within the family Asteraceae, native to cool temperate and arctic regions of East Asia, Europe, and
* ''Saussurea abnormis''. Himalaya.
* ''Saussurea acrophila''. China.
* ''Saussurea albescens''. Western Himalaya.
* ''
Chinese plant names: ''Saussurea''
Checklist of the plants of Nepal: ''Saussurea''
* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q1421617 Medicinal plants Uttarakhand Asteraceae genera Taxa named by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
, with the highest diversity in alpine
Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to:
Places Europe
* Alps, a European mountain range
** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range
Australia
* Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village
* Alpine National Pa ...
habitats in the Himalayas and East Asia. Common names include saw-wort and snow lotus, the latter used for a number of high altitude species in East Asia.
They are perennial herbaceous
Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials.
Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous"
The fourth edition of t ...
plants, ranging in height from dwarf alpine species 5–10 cm tall, to tall thistle-like plants up to 3 m tall. The leaves
A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...
are produced in a dense basal rosette, and then spirally up the flowering stem. The flowers form in a dense head of small capitula, often surrounded by dense white to purple woolly hairs; the individual florets are also white to purple. The wool is densest in the high altitude species, and aids in the thermoregulation of the flowers, minimising frost damage at night and also preventing ultraviolet light damage from the intense high-altitude sunlight.
De Candolle named the genus after Horace-Bénédict de Saussure (1740-1799) and Nicolas-Théodore de Saussure (1767–1845).
Uses
A number of the high alpine Himalayan species are grown as ornamental plants for their decorative dense woolly flowerheads; they are among the most challenging plants to grow, being adapted to harsh climates from 3500–5000 m altitude, demanding cool temperatures, a very long (up to 8–10 months) winter rest period, and very good soil drainage in humus-rich gravel soils.Traditional uses
left, Snow lotus fruits selling in Chiang Rai, Thailand ''Costi amari radix'' or costus root was an important item of Roman trade with India, and is believed to have been the dried root of ''Saussurea lappa
''Dolomiaea costus'', formerly known as ''Saussurea costus'', commonly known as costus, Indian costus, kuth, or putchuk, is a species of thistle in the genus ''Dolomiaea'' native to South Asia and China. Rishi (Hindu) mystics of Kashmir especiall ...
''.
Several varieties of snow lotus are used in traditional Tibetan medicine. ''Saussurea lappa'' is used a component of the traditional Tibetan medicine Padma 28. Research conducted on the Himalayan medicinal plants by C.P. Kala
Chandra Prakash Kala is an Indian ecologist and professor. His research interests include alpine ecology, conservation biology, indigenous knowledge systems, ethnobotany and medicinal aromatic plants. He is an assistant professor in the facul ...
reveals that the practitioners of Tibetan medicine living in the Pin Valley of Himachal Pradesh use its root for curing dysentery and ulcer. ''Saussurea laniceps
''Saussurea laniceps'' (common name cotton-headed snow lotus, ) is a rare snow lotus found only in the Himalayas including southwest China (in Sikkim in India and in Sichuan, Tibet and Yunnan in China). It might also occur in northern Burma. It g ...
'' '', Saussurea involucrata
''Saussurea'' is a genus of about 300 species of flowering plants in the tribe Cardueae within the family Asteraceae, native to cool temperate and arctic regions of East Asia, Europe, and North America, with the highest diversity in alpine habita ...
'' and ''Saussurea medusa'' flowers and stems have long been used in traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, cough with cold, stomachache, dysmenorrhea
Dysmenorrhea, also known as period pain, painful periods or menstrual cramps, is pain during menstruation. Its usual onset occurs around the time that menstruation begins. Symptoms typically last less than three days. The pain is usually in the ...
, and altitude sickness, and has been found to have antiinflammatory and analgesic effects, as well as cardiotonic, abortifacient, anticancer, and antifatigue actions. Saussurea laniceps
''Saussurea laniceps'' (common name cotton-headed snow lotus, ) is a rare snow lotus found only in the Himalayas including southwest China (in Sikkim in India and in Sichuan, Tibet and Yunnan in China). It might also occur in northern Burma. It g ...
have been proven to be more effective than ''Saussurea involucrata
''Saussurea'' is a genus of about 300 species of flowering plants in the tribe Cardueae within the family Asteraceae, native to cool temperate and arctic regions of East Asia, Europe, and North America, with the highest diversity in alpine habita ...
and Saussurea Medusa.''
''Saussurea obvallata'', known as "brahmakamala" in India is one of the most sacred species, and it has been used for offerings to goddess Nanda Devi for time immemorial.
Pharmacology
''Saussurea lappa'' and has been shown to inhibit the mRNA expression ofiNOS
Nitric oxide synthases () (NOSs) are a family of enzymes catalyzing the production of nitric oxide (NO) from L-arginine. NO is an important cellular signaling molecule. It helps modulate vascular tone, insulin secretion, airway tone, and perista ...
by lipopolysaccharide stimulated macrophages, thus reducing nitric oxide
Nitric oxide (nitrogen oxide or nitrogen monoxide) is a colorless gas with the formula . It is one of the principal oxides of nitrogen. Nitric oxide is a free radical: it has an unpaired electron, which is sometimes denoted by a dot in its che ...
production. In rats, high doses of 50-200 milligrams per kilogram of crude ethanolic extract reduced observed inflammation in standard laboratory tests, and 25-100 milligrams per kilogram of the sesquiterpene fraction of the extract reduced several molecular markers of inflammation. Ethanol extracts were shown to have analgesic and antiinflammatory effects at high doses of 75-300 milligrams per kilogram. As the slow-growing wild plant is endangered by collections, a substitute grown in tissue culture has been suggested, which is mostly equivalent. Generally the analgesic and antiinflammatory effects of the plant are much inferior to those of indometacin.
Literature and culture
In most Chinese martial arts literature, the snow Lotus was classified a rare herb as precious as lingzhi mushroom, and old ginseng.Selected species
* ''Saussurea abnormis''. Himalaya.
* ''Saussurea acrophila''. China.
* ''Saussurea albescens''. Western Himalaya.
* ''Saussurea alpina
''Saussurea alpina'' is a species of flowering plant belonging to the family Asteraceae
The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Aster ...
''. common saw-wort. Northern and central Europe, northwest Asia.
* ''Saussurea amara''. China, Russia.
* ''Saussurea americana
''Saussurea americana'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name American saw-wort. It is native to northwestern North America from Alaska to far northern California to Montana, where it grows in mount ...
''. American saw-wort. Western North America.
* ''Saussurea amurensis''. China.
* ''Saussurea angustifolia''. narrowleaf saw-wort. Arctic northeast Asia, Alaska, Canada.
* ''Saussurea auriculata''. Himalaya, western China.
* ''Saussurea bhutkesh''. Himalaya.
* ''Saussurea bodinieri''. China.
* ''Saussurea bullockii''. China.
* ''Saussurea cana''. China.
* ''Saussurea candolleana''. Himalaya.
* ''Saussurea ceratocarpa''. Kashmir.
* ''Saussurea chinnampoensis''. China.
* ''Saussurea chrysotricha''. Himalaya.
* ''Saussurea controversa''. Russia.
* ''Saussurea cordifolia''. China.
* ''Saussurea costus
''Dolomiaea costus'', formerly known as ''Saussurea costus'', commonly known as costus, Indian costus, kuth, or putchuk, is a species of thistle in the genus '' Dolomiaea'' native to South Asia and China. Rishi (Hindu) mystics of Kashmir especia ...
''. Eastern Himalaya.
* ''Saussurea crispa''. Himalaya.
* ''Saussurea deltoidea''. Himalaya, China, Taiwan.
* ''Saussurea densa''. Clustered saw-wort. Arctic northeast Asia, Canada, Montana.
* ''Saussurea dhwojii''. Himalaya.
* ''Saussurea discolor''. Alpine central Europe.
* ''Saussurea dolichopoda''. China.
* ''Saussurea donkiah''. Himalaya.
* ''Saussurea dutaillyana''. China.
* ''Saussurea dzeurensis''. China.
* ''Saussurea elegans''. Caucasus.
* ''Saussurea epilobioides''. China.
* ''Saussurea esthonica
''Saussurea esthonica'' is a species of ''Saussurea''.
It is native to Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across fro ...
''. Eastern Europe.
* ''Saussurea fastuosa''. Himalaya, western China.
* ''Saussurea formosana''. Taiwan.
* ''Saussurea forrestii''. Himalaya.
* ''Saussurea frondosa''. China.
* ''Saussurea glandulosa''. Taiwan.
* ''Saussurea globosa''. China.
* ''Saussurea gnaphalodes''. Himalaya, western China.
* ''Saussurea gossypiphora
''Saussurea gossypiphora'' commonly known as snowball plant (Hindi:कस्तूरी कमल, kastūrī kamal; Nepali:कपासे फूल, kapāsē phūl) is a perennial herbaceous plant. It is reputed to have medicinal properties acco ...
''. Himalaya.
* ''Saussurea graminea''. China.
* ''Saussurea graminifolia''. Himalaya.
* ''Saussurea grandiflora''. China.
* ''Saussurea heteromalla''. Himalaya.
* ''Saussurea hieracioides''. Himalaya, western China.
* ''Saussurea hookeri''. Himalaya.
* ''Saussurea involucrata
''Saussurea'' is a genus of about 300 species of flowering plants in the tribe Cardueae within the family Asteraceae, native to cool temperate and arctic regions of East Asia, Europe, and North America, with the highest diversity in alpine habita ...
''. snow lotus, Himalaya, (Vansemberuu) Mongolia.
* ''Saussurea iodostegia''. China.
* ''Saussurea japonica''. Japan, Korea, northern China.
* ''Saussurea kanaii''. Himalaya.
* ''Saussurea kanzanensis''. Taiwan.
* ''Saussurea kingii''. China.
* ''Saussurea kiraisanensis''. Taiwan.
* ''Saussurea laminamaensis''. Himalaya.
* ''Saussurea laniceps
''Saussurea laniceps'' (common name cotton-headed snow lotus, ) is a rare snow lotus found only in the Himalayas including southwest China (in Sikkim in India and in Sichuan, Tibet and Yunnan in China). It might also occur in northern Burma. It g ...
''. China.
* ''Saussurea lanuginosa''. China.
* ''Saussurea lappa''. Himalaya.
* ''Saussurea leontodontoides''. Himalaya.
* ''Saussurea licentiana''. China.
* ''Saussurea likiangensis''. Southwest China.
* ''Saussurea linearifolia''. Himalaya.
* ''Saussurea longifolia''. China.
* ''Saussurea manshurica''. Northern China.
* ''Saussurea medusa''. China.
* ''Saussurea mongolica''. Western China, Mongolia.
* ''Saussurea namikawae''. Himalaya.
* ''Saussurea neofranchetii''. China.
* ''Saussurea nepalensis''. Himalaya.
* ''Saussurea nigrescens''. China.
* ''Saussurea nishiokae''. Himalaya.
* ''Saussurea nivea''. China.
* ''Saussurea nuda''. nutty saw-wort. Alaska.
* ''Saussurea obvallata
''Saussurea obvallata'' is a species of flowering plant in the Asteraceae. It is native to the Alpine meadows of the Himalayas, in India, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan and southwest China at altitudes of 3,700 to 4,600 m.
Description
''Saussurea obval ...
''. Brahma kamal. Himalaya, northern Burma and south-west China.
* ''Saussurea oligantha''. China.
* ''Saussurea otophylla''. China.
* ''Saussurea pachyneura''. Himalaya.
* ''Saussurea parviflora''. Russia, China.
* ''Saussurea pectinata''. China.
* ''Saussurea peguensis''. China.
* ''Saussurea phaeantha''. China.
* ''Saussurea pinetorum''. China.
* ''Saussurea piptathera''. Himalaya.
* ''Saussurea platyphyllaria''. Himalaya.
* ''Saussurea polycephala''. China.
* ''Saussurea polystichoides''. Himalaya.
* ''Saussurea populifolia''. China.
* ''Saussurea porcii''. Carpathians.
* ''Saussurea pulchella''. Japan, Korea, northern China, eastern Siberia.
* ''Saussurea pygmaea''. Alps, Carpathians.
* ''Saussurea quercifolia''. China.
* ''Saussurea romuleifolia''. China.
* ''Saussurea roylei''. Himalaya.
* ''Saussurea runcinata''. China.
* ''Saussurea salsa''. Russia, China.
* ''Saussurea simpsoniana''. Himalaya.
* ''Saussurea sobarocephala''. China.
* ''Saussurea spicata''. Himalaya.
* ''Saussurea stafleuana''. Himalaya.
* ''Saussurea stella''. China.
* ''Saussurea stracheyana''. Himalaya.
* ''Saussurea sughoo''. Himalaya.
* ''Saussurea taraxacifolia''. Himalaya.
* ''Saussurea tangutica''. Western Asia.
* ''Saussurea topkegolensis''. Himalaya.
* ''Saussurea tridactyla''. Himalaya.
* ''Saussurea turgaiensis''. Russia.
* ''Saussurea uniflora''. Himalaya.
* ''Saussurea ussuriensis''. China, eastern Russia.
* ''Saussurea vansemberuu''. Mongolia.
* ''Saussurea veitchiana''. Central China.
* ''Saussurea velutina''. China.
* ''Saussurea viscida''. sticky saw-wort. Alaska.
* ''Saussurea weberi''. Weber's saw-wort. Rocky Mountains.
* ''Saussurea werneroides''. Himalaya.
* ''Saussurea yakla''. Himalaya.
References
External links
* *Chinese plant names: ''Saussurea''
Checklist of the plants of Nepal: ''Saussurea''
* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q1421617 Medicinal plants Uttarakhand Asteraceae genera Taxa named by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle