Saussurea involucrata, Snow Lotus, Xue Lian 雪莲

Snow Lotus
Bry Rgod Sug Pa (S. medusa, Tibet)
Xue Lian, Tian Shan Xue Lian (S. involucrata) (TCM)
Mian Tou Xue Tu Zi 绵头雪兔子 (S. laniceps) (TCM)
Shui Mu Xue Tu Zi 水母雪兔子 (S. medusa) (TCM)

Saussurea gossypiphora
Houtte, L. van, Flore des serres et des jardin de l’Europe, vol. 15 (1845)

Saussurea gossypiphora
(Photo by Greatestprateek) (Wikimedia)

Wild Snow Lotus gathered from the Mountains of Western Sichuan (Adam, 2016)

Varieties of Snow Lotus available on the Chinese market.
(Photo by K.b.cheng) (Wikimedia)

Botanical name:

Saussurea spp.
A number of species have been listed:

S. involucrata (syn. Aplotaxis involucrata): Snow Lotus, Xue Lian (TCM):
S. laniceps: Cotton-headed snow lotus, Mian Tou Xue Lian
S. medusa: Shui Mu Xue Lian (TCM), Bya rgod sug pa བྱ་རྒོད་སུག་པ་, Me tog gangs lha མེ་ཏོག་གངས་ལྷ་
S. gossypiphora: Bya rgod sug pa བྱ་རྒོད་སུག་པ་
S. gnaphaloides: Cudweed-like Saussurea, Shu Qu Feng Mao Ju (TCM)

Others listed include S. globosa, S. polylada, S. tridactyla, S. obvallata, S. longifolia
Tibetan sources for Saussurea species are complex and inconsistent. Different sources give different species under the same name and give different uses for each species. However, based on Chinese sources (Encyclopedia of TCM), the above 5 species are synonymous in effect.

Parts used:

Whole Plant
Research has shown S. laniceps to be more potent than S. medusa or S. involucrata

Temperature & Taste:

Warm, Moist. Sweet, slightly Bitter

Uses:

1. Warms the Kidney, Benefit Yang, Tonifies Qi:
-Weakness, deficiency, altitude sickness; ‘restore physical strength’ (Tibetan Medicine)
-Lower abdomen cold pain, Stomachache
-Impotence
-weakness and aching of the lower back and legs; strengthens muscles and joints
-regarded as anti-ageing and rejuvenative

2. Clears Wind-Damp, Strengthens the Tendons and Bones, Relieves Pain:
-Chronic Joint Pain, Arthralgia, Rheumatoid arthritis (TCM, Tibet, Uyghur)
-injuries to the Cranial Nerves, Toothache
-Epilepsy, Hypertension (Tibet)
-pain associated with Heat, Inflammation or Fever (Tibet)

3. Moves the Blood, Warms the Uterus, Regulates Menstruation:
-Amenorrhea, Dysmenorrhea (Tibet, Uyghur, Ayurveda)
-irregular menstruation
-Metrorrhagia
-Promotes Uterine contraction; expels placenta (Uyghur)
-profuse vaginal discharge from Cold and Damp
-Chronic Headaches

4. Clears Cold Phlegm, Stops Cough:
-Cough and Cold from Cold Phlegm and deficiency

5. Stops Bleeding, Promotes Healing: (TCM, Tibet)
-bleeding from Trauma
-Cranial injuries in particular

Dose:

Decoction: 3–6 grams
5 grams is a common dose for infusion in Tibet.
15 grams infused infused in alcohol (200mls.); dose 20mls. each time

Comment:

In some old TCM texts, Snow Lotus was classed as being as rare and precious as Ganoderma Ling Zhi and old Ginseng root.

Main Combinations:

1. Altitude sickness:
i. Snow Lotus with Rhodiola Hong Jing Tian
ii. Snow Lotus with Dang Gui, Ginseng, Licorice
2. Metrorrhagia, Snow Lotus (6 grams), Codonopsis Dang Shen (12 grams), stewed with Chicken into a soup.
3. Dysmenorrhea, Snow lotus, Saffron (or Safflower)
4. Impotence:
i. Snow Lotus, Angelica Dang Gui, Lycium Gou Qi Zi as a decoction
ii. Snow Lotus (15 grams) Cordyceps (6 grams), alcohol (2 liters); 20 mls. per dose.
5. Joint pain and inflammation, Sciatica, Lumbago, Snow Lotus (50 grams), One Snake (Viper), white spirit alcohol (1 liter); take 10 mls. twice daily.
6. Nourish Blood and Yin, Snow Lotus (5 grams), Codonopsis Dang Shen (15 grams), Cistanche Rou Cong Rong (15 grams), Safflower (5 grams), boiled into a soup with a Chicken.

Cautions:

Not used during Pregnancy (Chinese Pharmacopoeia)

Main Preparations used:

Saussurea involucrata, Snow Lotus, Xue Lian PRO