Chinese name
Jellyfish Snow Bunny
Scientific name
Saussurea medusa Maxim
Boundary
Botany
Phylum
Peridophyta
Organism
Dicotyledonous plant family
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Morphological features
Perennial once-fruitful herbs. Rhizome slender, with black-brown remnant petioles, branched, emitting several rosette-like clusters of leaves in the upper part. Stem erect, densely covered with white cotton wool. Leaves crowded, lower leaves obovate, flabellate, orbicular or oblong to rhombic, with petiole up to 10 cm long, 0.5-3 cm wide, tip obtuse or rounded, base cuneate and tapering into a purple petiole up to 2.5 cm long, upper half of the margins with 8-12 coarsely toothed teeth; upper leaves attenuate, reflexed downward, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, acute or acuminate apically; uppermost leaves linear or linear-lanceolate, reflexed downward, margins with thin teeth. reflexed downward, margin finely toothed; all leaves same or nearly same color on both surfaces, gray-green, covered with dense or sparse white long cotton hairs. Heads numerous, crowded into hemispherical involucres at stem tip, sessile, bracts linear-lanceolate, both surfaces covered with long white cotton hairs. Involucre narrowly terete, 5-7 mm in diam.; involucral bracts 3-layered, outer long elliptic, purple, 11 mm long, 2 mm wide, apically long acuminate, outside covered with white or brown cotton hairs, middle oblanceolate, 10 mm long, 4 mm wide, apically obtuse, inner lanceolate, 11 mm long, 2 mm wide, apically obtuse. Florets blue-purple, 10 mm long, the thin tubular part as long as the limb. Achenes fusiform, light brown, 8-9 mm long. Crown hairs white, 2-layered, outer layer short, strigose, 4 mm long, inner layer long, feathery, 12 mm long. Flowering and fruiting July-September.
Growing environment
Grows on gravelly slopes and alpine rhyolite beaches at an altitude of 3000-5600 meters.
Distribution range
Distributed in China Gansu, Qinghai (Qilian), Sichuan (Maoxian, Kangding, Dacheng), Yunnan (Deqin, Zhongdian), Tibet (Chashu, Zada, Pulan, Changze, Zhongba, Linzhou, Naidong (Zedang), Longzi, Baju, Zuogong, Janda, Chandu, Dingqing, Suoxian, Amdo, Bango, Shenzha, Shuanghu). Born in many gravelly slopes, alpine driftstone beach; 3000-5600 m above sea level. It is also distributed in Kashmir. The type was taken from Gansu.
Jellyfish Snow Bunny
Foreign distribution: also in Kashmir.
Major Values
The whole herb is used as medicine for rheumatic arthritis, alpine malaise and menstrual disorders.