Approximately 300,000 snow lotus seedlings, grown in two greenhouses in Gongliu County, have recently been transplanted to the wild, which can be seen as the prelude to the large-scale artificial cultivation of the herb in China.

As a precious alpine plant, the snow lotus grows in very trying conditions and has a very low reproductive rate.

In addition, as it is highly valued in Chinese traditional medicine, the snow lotus has been gathered by local people in an unlimited manner, which has made it the most seriously endangered plant in China.

To prevent such a precious species from becoming extinct, the Xinjiang Agricultural University has organized a special team to conduct research on the artificial cultivation of snow lotus, and has made remarkable progress in this regard.

Late last year, the research team, Xinjiang Xiehe Natural Products Co Ltd and the West Tianshan Mountains Forestry Office drafted a plan to invest 6.5 million yuan (US$783,000) to build a cultivating base for snow lotus. As the first of its kind in China, the base is expected to cover an area of about 34 hectares with 3 million seedlings.

(eastday.com 03/17/2001)