Saussurea

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Saussurea
Saussurea alpina esthonica - Eesti soojumikas - Niitvalja soo2.jpg
Saussurea alpina ssp. esthonica
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Subfamily: Carduoideae
Tribe: Cardueae
Subtribe: Saussureinae
Genus: Saussurea
DC.
Synonyms [1]
List
  • AplotaxisDC.
  • BennettiaGray
  • CyathidiumLindl. ex Royle
  • DiplazoptilonY.Ling
  • EriocoryneWall. ex DC.
  • EriocoryneWall.
  • EriostemonLess.
  • HaplotaxisEndl.
  • HemisteptaBunge
  • HemisteptiaBunge ex Fisch. & C.A.Mey.
  • HeterotrichumM.Bieb.
  • LagurostemonCass.
  • PoecilotricheDulac
  • PilostemonIljin
  • PolytaxisBunge
  • Theodorea(Cass.) Neck. ex Cass.

Saussurea is a genus of about 300 species of flowering plants in the tribe Cardueae within the family Asteraceae, native to cool temperate and arctic regions of East Asia, Europe, and North America, with the highest diversity in alpine habitats in the Himalayas and East Asia. Common names include saw-wort and snow lotus, the latter used for a number of high altitude species in East Asia.

Contents

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 surrounded by dense white to purple woolly hairs; the individual florets are also white to purple. The wool is densest in the high altitude species, and aids in the 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 Horace-Bénédict de Saussure (1740–1799) and Nicolas-Théodore de Saussure (1767–1845). [2]

Uses

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 to 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.

Traditional uses

Snow lotus fruits selling in Chiang Rai, Thailand Snow Lotus at Doi Chang Mup bawhima khaay`yuuthii d`ychaangmuub.jpg
Snow lotus fruits selling in Chiang Rai, Thailand

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 . [3]

Several varieties of snow lotus are used in traditional Tibetan medicine. Saussurea lappa is used a component of the traditional Tibetan medicine Padma 28. Research conducted on the Himalayan medicinal plants by C.P. Kala reveals that the practitioners of Tibetan medicine living in the Pin Valley of Himachal Pradesh use its root for curing dysentery and ulcer. [4] Saussurea laniceps , Saussurea involucrata and Saussurea medusa 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 and analgesic effects, [5] as well as cardiotonic, abortifacient, anticancer, [6] and antifatigue actions. [ citation needed ] Saussurea laniceps have been proven to be more effective than Saussurea involucrata and Saussurea medusa. [7]

Saussurea obvallata is one of the most sacred species in India, and has been used for offerings to goddess Nanda Devi for time immemorial. [8] [9]

Pharmacology

Saussurea lappa and has been shown to inhibit the mRNA expression of iNOS by lipopolysaccharide stimulated macrophages, thus reducing nitric oxide production.[ citation needed ] In rats, high doses of 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. [10] [11] Ethanol extracts were shown to have analgesic and antiinflammatory effects at high 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 indometacin.

Literature and culture

In most Chinese martial arts literature, the snow Lotus was classified a rare herb as precious as lingzhi mushroom, and old ginseng.

Selected species

Saussurea pygmaea Saussurea pygmaea (Zwerg-Alpenscharte) IMG 27963.JPG
Saussurea pygmaea
Saussurea gossypiphora Saussurea gossypiphora Himalaya.jpg
Saussurea gossypiphora
Saussurea obvallata Brahmakamal Kaluvinayak Chamoli Uttarakhand 2014-08-23.jpg
Saussurea obvallata
Saussurea alpina with seeds Saussurea alpina esthonica - Niitvalja bog.jpg
Saussurea alpina with seeds

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References

  1. "Flann, C (ed) 2009+ Global Compositae Checklist". Archived from the original on 2015-01-06. Retrieved 2015-01-06.
  2. Candolle, A.P. de, in Annales du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle. 16:197-198
  3. Moeslinger, T; Friedl, R; Volf, I; Brunner, M; Koller, E; Spieckermann, PG (2000). "Inhibition of inducible nitric oxide synthesis by the herbal preparation Padma 28 in macrophage cell line". Canadian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology. 78 (11): 861–6. doi:10.1139/cjpp-78-11-861. PMID   11100933.
  4. Kala, Chandra Prakash (2005). "Indigenous uses, population density and conservation of threatened medicinal plants in protected areas of India Himalaya". Conservation Biology. 19 (2): 368–378. doi:10.1111/j.1523-1739.2005.00602.x. S2CID   85324142.
  5. Jia, JM; Wu, CF; Liu, W; Yu, H; Hao, Y; Zheng, JH; Ji, YR (2005). "Antiinflammatory and analgesic activities of the tissue culture of Saussurea involucrata". Biological & Pharmaceutical Bulletin. 28 (9): 1612–4. doi: 10.1248/bpb.28.1612 . PMID   16141525.
  6. Shati, AA; Alkahtani, MA; Alfaifi, MY; Elbehairi, SEI; Elsaid, FG; Prasanna, R; Mir, MA (2020). "Secondary Metabolites of Saussurea costus Leaf Extract Induce Apoptosis in Breast, Liver, and Colon Cancer Cells by Caspase-3-Dependent Intrinsic Pathway". BioMed Research International. 2020: 1–11. doi: 10.1155/2020/1608942 . PMC   7374224 . PMID   32766303.
  7. Yi, Tao; Zhao, Zhong-Zhen; Yu, Zhi-Ling; Chen, Hu-Biao (2010-03-24). "Comparison of the anti-inflammatory and anti-nociceptive effects of three medicinal plants known as "Snow Lotus" herb in traditional Uighur and Tibetan medicines". Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 128 (2): 405–411. doi:10.1016/j.jep.2010.01.037. ISSN   1872-7573. PMID   20083181.
  8. Kala, Chandra Prakash (2003). Medicinal Plants of the Indian Trans Himalaya: Focus on Tibetan Use of Medicinal Resources. Dehradun: Bishan Singh Mahendra Pal Singh. p. 200. ISBN   8121101808.
  9. Kala, Chandra Prakash (2010). Medicinal Plants of Uttarakhand: Diversity, Livelihood and Conservation. Delhi: BioTech Books. p. 188. ISBN   9788176222099.
  10. Damre, AA; Damre, AS; Saraf, MN (2003). "Evaluation of sesquiterpene lactone fraction of Saussurea lappa on transudative, exudative and proliferative phases of inflammation". Phytotherapy Research. 17 (7): 722–5. doi:10.1002/ptr.1152. PMID   12916066. S2CID   39651463.
  11. Gokhale, AB; Damre, AS; Kulkami, KR; Saraf, MN (2002). "Preliminary evaluation of anti-inflammatory and anti-arthritic activity of S. Lappa, A. Speciosa and A. Aspera". Phytomedicine. 9 (5): 433–7. doi:10.1078/09447110260571689. PMID   12222664.