Protected plant list updated

Snow lotus (Saussurea involucrata), which has received much attention, finally entered the quasi-second rank from the discussion draft this time. The jellyfish snowshoe hare (Saussurea medusa) belongs to the same family and are often mistaken as snow lotus. It is also included in the second level.

Snow lotus is coveted by poachers because people who consume it believe it can cure disease. Snowshoe hares are close relatives of the snow lotus, and they grow in a similar environment. They are often used by poachers as substitutes for snow lotus to deceive unsuspecting consumers.

In the past few years, there has been widespread illegal harvesting of snowshoe hare, especially jellyfish snowshoe hare.

Last August, yeshixiaoge, a food blogger with more than 3 million fans on Weibo, made a controversial video. It was called "What is the taste of instant noodles with jellyfish snow lotus at an altitude of 4500 meters?" It was viewed 350,000 times.

In the video, as the title implies, the blogger climbed a mountain, carefully pulled out a fluffy plant from a nearby rock pile, washed it, and cooked it with instant noodles.

After the video was released, it was criticized by many netizens, and Gu lamented that even the botanists hardly ever dare to touch it when they collect specimens.

Some snowshoe hares can live in extremely barren rocky areas 4,000 meters above sea level, and are mostly distributed at extremely high altitudes near the snow line.