Lotus is an aquatic plant that grows in ponds. How can it grow in the snow? It turns out that what we are introducing here is not an ordinary lotus, but a plant of the Compositae family, so named because it looks like a lotus when it blooms. This kind of lotus on the snow is the snow lotus. There are many kinds of plants known as snow lotus. They are concentrated in the high mountain areas of Yunnan, Tibet, Sichuan, and Xinjiang. Among them, the snow lotus produced in the Tianshan Mountains of Xinjiang and Qinghai and Gansu is the most famous. This kind of snow lotus grows in gravelly areas near the snow line. It is also known as Xinjiang snow lotus or big bract snow lotus. It is a perennial herb, 10 to 30 cm high, with thick stems, dense leaves, sessile, and oblanceolate leaves, 10 cm long. ~13 cm, up to 4~5 cm wide, with serrated edges, dense terminal inflorescences, large involucral bracts, oval leaves, multi-layered, almost membranous, white or light yellow-green, small brown-purple flowers , the crest is white. Often blooms in July. When Snow Lotus is about to bloom, its involucre is wrapped, a bit like a cabbage.

The name of snow lotus comes from "Supplementary Materials of Compendium of Materia Medica". This book believes that the whole plant of snow lotus can be used as medicine and can cure all cold diseases. "Yunnan Chinese Herbal Medicine" says: "Regulate menstruation, stop bleeding, and treat irregular menstruation, snow blindness, toothache, and traumatic bleeding." "Supplementary Materials to the Compendium of Materia Medica" also describes the living habits and shape of snow lotus: "Snow lotus is produced in northwest Yili and Jinchuan. In the land of severe cold, the snow remains in spring and summer. There are grasses in the snow, which are like lotus flowers. They have single stems and are slightly thinner than lotus flowers. Their petals are thin and narrow, up to 10~15 cm, and they are like the tip of a pen or clouds. When soaked in wine, the color will be reddish. ”

In addition to the above-mentioned large-bracted snowdrops, there are also cotton-headed snowdrops. The whole plant is densely covered with white or light yellow villous hairs, up to 25 cm tall, with dense, lanceolate leaves. Shape or narrowly obovate, 2 to 10 cm long, densely covered with long white hairs, most of the flower heads are densely packed, the involucral bracts are long and narrow, 12 mm long and only 2 mm wide, hairless, the flowers are all tubular, and the fruits are flat and small. Flowers from June to July. This species is distributed in Sichuan, Yunnan and Tibet and grows in crevices on the flowstone beach. There is also a jellyfish snowdrop, about 20 cm high. The whole plant is densely covered with white wool, the stem is thick and short, the leaves are densely grown, the petioles are flat and long, the leaves are oval, and the edges are slit-shaped and serrated. The flower heads are densely grown, with purple flowers and gray-white crests. This species is distributed in Tibet, Yunnan, Sichuan, Gansu and Qinghai. Mostly found in gravel crevices in high mountain areas. In addition, the famous ones include Tibetan snow lotus and hairy snow lotus. They are both short, white-haired, herbaceous, with purple flowers. Both of them can be used as snow lotus for medicine.