Snow Lotus of Tianshan Mountains

The snow lotus is a perennial herb of chrysanthemum genus in the composite family, native to Tianshan Mountains, Altai Mountains, Karakorum Mountains, and Pamirs Plateau, but mainly grows in Tianshan Mountains within Xinjiang autonomous region of northwest China. The two major nationalities in Xinjiang, Uygur and Kazak, so admire it. They call it Tagilis (a beautiful name in Uygur language) and regard it as "the king of the plant kingdom". Young men take a risk to pick up a Tagilis, and dedicate it as "the token of love" to their loved girls. There are many beautiful stories, songs, and literary works about this alpine plant.

Generally, Tianshan Snow Lotus is 15-35cm high. It takes 5 years to come into bloom from a seed, begin to blossom in July, and bear fruits in August. The flowers on sunless mountain slopes are usually white, and the ones on sunny side are red. A whole plant in young is fragrant. The leaves are green and dense, often twice bigger than the flower. The flower bracts are light yellow and transparently thin. From the far, those bracts look like petals.

People often mistakenly think that the snow lotus grows in snow, but it actually grows below the snowline, generally within areas between 2600-4000 meters above the sea level, and roots between stones, on cliffs, in gravels or moist sandy earth. A Kazahstan botanist once found snow lotuses growing in the high of 5000 meters. In such an environment, no other plants can grow. The snow lotus has evolved the natural ability to resist severe cold, intense ultraviolet radiation and low oxygen by accumulating a variant composition of alkaloid, volatile oil, steroid, polysaccharide, reduced substance, manganese, zinc and some other trace elements. It is such a beautiful and hardy plant that "to mistakenly think it growing in the snow" is not only for wrong idea, but also for an imagination, or we may say that it is a beautiful mistake.

Tianshan Snow Lotus is rare and popular in Chinese medicine, Xinjiang Uygur medicine, Tibet medicine, and Mongolian medicine. In Chinese medicine, it characterizes by spicy and bitter in taste and hot in nature, so is used as a therapy for rheumatism, limb numbness caused by cold, abdomen pain and chillness, menstrual disorder of women, arthritis and kidney deficiency and waist hurt.

According to recent researches, Tianshan Snow Lotus contains nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, which is a cellular co-enzyme. This co-enzyme can produce the energy molecule that powers the muscles, heart, brain, nerves and cell repair. The Snow Lotus has rich vitamins in stamen and pistil, and contains elements that cleanse and purify the skin to make skin look fresher, clearer, and more radiant. In cosmetic industry, it is used as a product to delay skin aging process due to the anti-peroxide capability. Because of these medicinal and commercial worths, Tianshan Snow Lotus is subjected to over-exploitation and has become dangerous. Therefore, the harvesting of the snow lotus has been regulated by the Chinese government and mostly by the military in terms of the location of the plant.

In short, snow lotus is a rare species. Its rareness lies in its unique habitat and its distinguished beauty. The harmony between the environment and the beauty symbolizes a perfect integration of the dignity, the sanctity and perseverance. In Uygur language, snow lotus is understood as "the King in Plant Kingdom", but people may prefer to call it "the Queen of Plant". Numerous literary people have attached the most beautiful language to it, and a traveller without touch a real flower would regret for a whole life. However, this plant species has been dangerous because of inappropriate harvestation and economic use. Imagine the day when travellers are standing on the mountain, but only fantalizing the sweet perfume of snow lotus in the air; imagine the day people can only appreciate the beauty of "the Queen" in photographs or just paintings.

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