| Saussurea | |
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| Saussurea pygmaea | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Asterids |
| Order: | Asterales |
| Family: | Asteraceae |
| Tribe: | Cynareae |
| Genus: | Saussurea DC. |
| Species | |
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Saussurea is a genus of about 300 species of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, native to cool temperate and arctic regions of Asia, Europe, and North America, with the highest diversity in alpine habitats in the Himalaya and central Asia. Common names include saw-wort and snow lotus, the latter used for a number of high altitude species in central Asia.
They are perennial herbaceous plants, ranging in height from dwarf alpine species 5-10 cm tall, to tall thistle-like plants up to 3 m tall. The leaves 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 completely surrounded in dense white to purple woolly hairs; the individual florets are also white to purple. The wool is densest in the high altitude species, and aid in 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 Nicolas-Théodore de Saussure (1767-1845).
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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.
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.[1] Saussurea lappa is used as an anti-inflammatory drug, and a component of the traditional Tibetan medicine Padma 28, and has been shown to inhibit the mRNA expression of iNOS by lipopolysaccharide stimulated macrophages, thus reducing nitric oxide production. In rats, 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.[2][3]
Saussurea involucrata flowers and stems have long been used in traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, cough with cold, stomachache, dysmenorrhea, and altitude sickness, and has been found to have antiinflammatory, cardiotonic, abortifacient, anticancer, and antifatigue actions.[4] Ethanol extracts were shown to have analgesic and antiinflammatory effects at 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 10 milligrams of indomethacin.
In most chinese martial arts literature, the snow Lotus was classified a rare herb as precious as lingzhi mushroom, and old ginseng.
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Classification System: APG II (down to family level)
Main Page
Cladus: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiospermae
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: core
eudicots
Cladus: Asterids
Cladus: Euasterids
II
Ordo: Asterales
Familia: Asteraceae
Subfamilia: Cichorioideae
Tribus: Cardueae
Subtribus: Echinopsidinae
Genus: Saussurea
Species: S. candicans -
S. costus - S. deltoidea -
S. eriocephala -
S. glomerata -
S. gnaphalodes -
S. gossipiphora -
S. heteromalla -
S. jacea - S. leucoma - S. lyrata - S. lyratifolia -
S. obvallata -
S. poophylla -
S. pygmaea - S. uniflora
Saussurea DC.
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