Nelumbo

Scientific name

Nelumbo Adans.

Common names

sacred lotus, lotus lily, American lotus

Family

Nelumbonaceae

Similar genera

Euryale, Nymphaea, Victoria

Native distribution

Asia, Australia, North America

Species cultivated

Nelumbo lutea (Willd.) Pers.

N. nucifera Gaertn.

Adventive distribution

introduced in ornamental ponds in numerous countries around the world

Weed status

Sometimes considered troublesome; blocks waterways.

Habit

attached, floating, or emergentemergent:
(adj) (syn. emersed) with parts raised out of the water; extending up out of the water
, broad-leaved plant

Brief description

Perennial, milky latexlatex:
(n) a usually milky-looking liquid found in the cells of many plants
present. Stems dimorphic: slender, horizontal stolons or rhizomes, or thick storage rhizomes; rooted at nodes. Leaves floating (when immature) or emergentemergent:
(adj) (syn. emersed) with parts raised out of the water; extending up out of the water
(when mature), peltatepeltate:
(adj) of usually flat organs such as leaves: having its stalk attached to its underside away from the margin, near the center
; petiolepetiole:
(n) the stalk of a leaf
elongate (up to 3 m), bearing numerous small spines; leaf bladeblade:
(n) (syn. lamina) the flat, expanded part of a leaf, frond, or petal (excluding, e.g., the petiole)
large, up to 1 m in diameter, veins palmatepalmate:
(adj) (of leaves or venation) with lobes, leaflets, divisions or veins originating from the same point
, not bearing spines; marginmargin:
(n) edge; rim
entireentire:
(adj) having a continuous margin that is not toothed or lobed
, dentatedentate:
(adj) (of a leaf margin) (1) toothed; (2) bearing shallow teeth projecting outward from midrib
(if floating), or undulateundulate:
(adj) (of, e.g., a margin) with a wavy surface; wavy in the vertical (up and down) plane
. Inflorescenceinflorescence:
(n) the arrangement of flowers on the floral axis
a large, solitary flower borne on an elongate, axillaryaxillary:
(adj) in, of, or produced from an axil
, spineless pedicelpedicel:
(n) the stalk of a single flower in an inflorescence, or of a grass spikelet
. Flower bisexualbisexual:
(adj) having both male and female sexual reproductive structures on one individual or in one flower
; perianthperianth:
(n) collective term for the calyx and corolla of a flower; also used for floral whorl(s) in which the calyx and corolla cannot be resolved; any of the leaves or bracts surrounding the sex organs of bryophytes
segments 14-30; outer 2-5 segments sepal-like, inner petal-like, pink-white to yellow in color. Seeds large, hard, ovateovate:
(adj) egg-shaped in outline; generally with the broad end at or near the base
, produced in a pithy receptaclereceptacle:
(n) the portion of the pedicel on which the flowers are borne, or in the Asteraceae, the portion of the peduncule upon which the florets of the head are borne
. Dispersal by seed or rhizomerhizome:
(n) an underground stem, usually growing horizontally, from which both roots and shoots emerge directly; the thick, above-ground stem of ferns
fragments. Seed longevity up to several hundred years.

Natural habitat

still waters of rivers, lakes, and ponds

Additional comments

Nelumbo contains only two species, but numerous ornamental varieties are cultivated worldwide. The rhizomerhizome:
(n) an underground stem, usually growing horizontally, from which both roots and shoots emerge directly; the thick, above-ground stem of ferns
and seeds of Nelumbo are used as a vegetable, and the dried receptaclereceptacle:
(n) the portion of the pedicel on which the flowers are borne, or in the Asteraceae, the portion of the peduncule upon which the florets of the head are borne
is used medicinally as a source of quercetin, a compoundcompound:
(adj) with two or more like parts, as in a compound leaf; divided into two or more subsidiary parts or orders, as in a compound inflorescence
exhibiting anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant activity.