Saussurea involucrata Seeds | Snow Lotus

Snow Lotus (Saussurea involucrata) with pale translucent bracts and purple florets among alpine rocks — Snow Lotus (*Saussurea involucrata*): Asteraceae, the high-altitude herb of the Tien Shan, protected across its range and slow to raise from seed.

LATIN NAME: Saussurea involucrata

COMMON NAME: Snow Lotus, Tian Shan Snow Lotus

Plant Profile

Snow lotus is a plant of the high alpine zone, and everything about it is a response to that. It grows ten to thirty centimetres tall from a thick, woody rootstock, with a stout, hollow stem and leaves that are broad, lobed and covered in dense white wool, especially beneath. The flowering head is surrounded by a set of large, membranous, translucent bracts, pale green to almost white, which give the plant its specific name and act as a miniature greenhouse, holding warmth around the developing florets in a climate where the growing season may be eight weeks long. The florets themselves are purple, clustered in a single head or a small group of heads.

The species grows at altitudes between roughly 2,400 and 4,100 metres on rocky slopes, moraines and alpine scree of the Tien Shan, Pamir, Altai and the mountains of Xinjiang and Qinghai. It flowers in July and August, and the plant is slow: seedlings take several years to reach flowering size, and the rosette may flower only once or twice before dying. The seed carries a feathery pappus and is dispersed by wind across the scree, but establishment is rare and depends on a wet summer and a stable substrate. The plant is a nationally protected species in China, and collection from the wild is illegal, a status that reflects both its slow life history and the pressure of the medicinal trade.

Science & Biotechnology

The chemistry has been studied mainly in relation to its traditional use for rheumatism, arthritis and what Chinese medicine calls cold-damp pain. The leaf and the aerial parts contain rutin, syringin, chlorogenic acid, apigenin and a group of flavonoids and phenylpropanoids, and extracts have shown anti-inflammatory and analgesic activity in animal models, with some work on cartilage protection and on the modulation of inflammatory cytokines. The plant also accumulates UV-absorbing compounds and has a thick cuticle, both adaptations to the intense radiation of high altitude, and these are of interest to researchers working on plant stress physiology.

The species is a difficult subject for science as well as for gardeners. It is slow-growing, it does not transplant, and wild populations are small and fragmented, so most research now depends on in vitro culture. Micropropagation from shoot tips and callus has been worked out, and it is the basis of the cultivated supply that is meant to take pressure off the wild stands. Studies of the plant’s genetic diversity across its range show low variation within populations and significant differentiation between them, which is a warning for conservation: a population lost is not easily replaced. Work on its pollination has recorded bumblebees and flies as the main visitors, which is unsurprising at those altitudes.

Uses & Benefits

Xue Lian Hua is one of the most famous and most expensive herbs in Chinese medicine, used as a tonic for cold constitutions, for joint pain, and for what is described as weakness of the kidney. It is taken in wine, in decoction or in pills. The price and the reputation have produced a long history of adulteration, with other Saussurea species and unrelated alpine plants sold in its place, and buyers should be aware that most of what is offered in markets is not this species. It is also not a casual remedy: the plant is protected, the supply is limited, and the evidence for its effects in humans is thin.

In the garden it is a plant for the alpine house or a raised bed of pure grit, and it is grown as a curiosity by collectors rather than as an ornamental. Its translucent bracts are genuinely beautiful in a cold, backlit way, and a flowering plant in a trough is a sight worth the wait. It needs a site with sharp drainage, full light, cold winters and cool summers, and it will not tolerate warmth, humidity or rich soil. Outside the alpine house it succeeds in a scree bed at high altitude, or in a cold frame in a climate with reliable winter cold.

Growing from Seed

Germination is the first obstacle. The seed needs cold and moisture, and a treatment with gibberellic acid improves the result. Sow into a gritty mix of loam, coarse sand and limestone chips, cover lightly, and give four to six weeks at four degrees, then move to fifteen to eighteen degrees. Germination is erratic, spread over three to eight weeks, and the percentage is often low. Keep the mix barely moist and the air moving, because damping off will take the seedlings overnight.

Prick the seedlings out as soon as they can be handled, into deep pots of the same gritty mix, and grow them on in a cool, bright alpine house with good ventilation. Water from below and let the compost dry slightly between waterings. Plant out into a raised scree bed or a deep trough in full sun, with grit around the collar to keep the crown dry. The plant needs a cold winter to flower well, but it must not sit wet. Expect three to five years from sowing to first flower, and do not disturb the root once it is established.

Our Take

Snow lotus is a plant to grow for the challenge and the beauty, not for the medicine. Buy seed from cultivated stock, give it cold, grit and patience, and leave the wild populations where they are.

Flower Seeds