The "magic medicine" in the drama is no longer hard to find? Sowing Tianshan Snow Lotus seeds on a 3,000-meter-high mountain!

Snow lotus grows near the snow line of the mountains at an altitude of 2400 to 4000 meters. It belongs to the genus Saussurea of ​​the Asteraceae family and is a rare alpine flower species unique to Xinjiang. The top of the snow lotus resembles a lotus, so it is named snow lotus, or snow lotus for short. July to August every year is the season when wild snow lotus blooms in the Tianshan Mountains of Xinjiang. The jade-like Tianshan snow lotus blooms in the stone walls, rock cracks and stone beaches, interpreting the splendor of life with tenacity and perseverance.

Why can snow lotus bloom despite being in a high-altitude cold zone? That’s because snow lotus has made great efforts to keep out the cold and keep warm. The purple hemisphere that is often mistaken for a stamen is actually a spherical inflorescence. Hundreds of small flowers live on a spherical inflorescence. Around the inflorescence, there are more than a dozen jade-white or light green translucent membranous bracts, like small greenhouses, which not only resist the cold wind but also allow some sunlight to penetrate. The stems and leaves are covered with thick hairs, and even the petals are densely covered with hairs. The whole body seems to be wrapped in a blanket, which not only keeps out the cold and keeps warm, reduces water loss, but also reflects the strong sunlight radiation from the mountains. The unique warmth-keeping properties ensure that the snow lotus can complete its important life journey in the short and only flowering season.

File photo: Snow lotus growing on the Karlik Glacier

Tianshan Snow Lotus contains rich protein and amino acids. It has the effects of promoting blood circulation, dispelling cold and dampness, stopping bleeding and reducing swelling, and eliminating toxins in the human body. It also has the effects of enhancing human immunity, anti-fatigue, and anti-aging. It also contains natural snow lotus yellow cavernous reed, snow lotus lactone, snow lotus polysaccharide, etc. Its sun protection index is as high as 22DSE, so it can protect the skin from ultraviolet rays and improve skin pigmentation.

Under natural conditions, the survival rate of snow lotus seed reproduction is low, with a natural reproduction rate of less than 5%, and artificial reproduction is difficult. It takes at least 3 to 5 years for snow lotus to germinate from seeds to bloom and bear seeds. In order to strengthen the protection of snow lotus, scientific researchers have begun to explore the road of artificial cultivation of snow lotus.

Since 2016, Tianshan Tianchi has imitated the ecological characteristics and growth conditions of Xinjiang snow lotus in its native habitat. It has adopted a method that combines direct sowing and greenhouse plug tray seedling cultivation at Mayash Mountain, which is more than 3,000 meters above sea level in Tianshan Tianchi Scenic Area, to plant 10,000 snow lotus seedlings and sow snow lotus seeds in more than 50 acres of land.

At present, artificially cultivated snow lotus is growing well. In the next step, research on key technologies for artificial cultivation of snow lotus will be carried out to form a large-scale development model for snow lotus cultivation with regional characteristics.

Review expert: Yang Rurong, associate researcher at the Institute of Geography and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences

China Association for Science and Technology Department of Science Popularization

Xinhuanet

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