Lotus - Nelumbo nucifera

"Lotus Flower" redirects here. For the Woody Shaw album, see Lotus Flower (Woody Shaw album). For the Radiohead song, see Lotus Flower (song). For the religious symbol, see Padma (attribute).

Nelumbo nucifera, also known as Indian lotus, sacred lotus, bean of India, or simply lotus, is one of two species of aquatic plant in the family Nelumbonaceae. The Linnaean binomial Nelumbo nucifera (Gaertn.) is the currently recognized name for this species, which has been classified under the former names, Nelumbium speciosum (Willd.) and Nymphaea nelumbo, among others. (These names are obsolete synonyms and should be avoided in current works.) This plant is an aquatic perennial. Under favorable circumstances its seeds may remain viable for many years, with the oldest recorded lotus germination being from that of seeds 1,300 years old recovered from a dry lakebed in northeastern China.[1]

Native to Tropical Asia and Queensland, Australia,[2][3] it is commonly cultivated in water gardens. It is also the national flower of India, Bangladesh and Vietnam.

Classification

While all modern plant taxonomy systems agree that this species belongs in the genus Nelumbo, the systems disagree as to which family Nelumbo should be placed in, or whether the genus should belong in its own unique family and order.

The lotus is often confused with the water lilies (Nymphaea, in particular Nymphaea caerulea, sometimes called the "blue lotus"). In fact, several older systems, such as Bentham and Hooker (which is widely used in the Indian subcontinent) call the lotus Nymphaea nelumbo or Nymphaea stellata. This is, however, evolutionarily incorrect. Far from being in the same family, Nymphaea and Nelumbo are members of different orders (Nymphaeales and Proteales respectively). Adding to the confusion, some sources have used the scientific name Nymphaea stellata for another species called Blue Lotus or nil mānel in Sinhala,[citation needed] which is the national flower of both Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Botany

The roots of lotus are planted in the soil of the pond or river bottom, while the leaves float on top of the water surface or are held well above it. The flowers are usually found on thick stems rising several centimeters above the leaves. The plant normally grows up to a height of about 150 cm and a horizontal spread of up to 3 meters, but some unverified reports place the height as high as over 5 meters. The leaves may be as large as 60 cm in diameter, while the showy flowers can be up to 20 cm in diameter.

Researchers report that the lotus has the remarkable ability to regulate the temperature of its flowers to within a narrow range just as humans and other warmblooded animals do.[4] Dr. Roger S. Seymour and Dr. Paul Schultze-Motel, physiologists at the University of Adelaide in Australia, found that lotus flowers blooming in the Adelaide Botanic Gardens maintained a temperature of 30–35 °C (86–95 °F), even when the air temperature dropped to 10 °C (50 °F). They suspect the flowers may be doing this to attract coldblooded insect pollinators. The study, published in the journal Nature, is the latest discovery in the field of thermoregulation, heat-producing, plants. Two other species known to be able to regulate their temperature include Symplocarpus foetidus and Philodendron selloum.

An individual lotus can live for over a thousand years and has the rare ability to revive into activity after stasis. In 1994, a seed from a sacred lotus, dated at roughly 1,300 years old ± 270 years, was successfully germinated.[5][6]

As mentioned earlier, the traditional Sacred Lotus is only distantly related to Nymphaea caerulea, but possesses similar chemistry. Both Nymphaea caerulea and Nelumbo nucifera contain the alkaloids nuciferine and aporphine.

The genome of the sacred lotus was sequenced in May 2013.

Boiled, sliced lotus roots used in various Asian cuisines

A South Asian delicacy made of lotus stem. The stem is used in various Asian cuisines.

The flowers, seeds, young leaves, and "roots" (rhizomes) are all edible. In Asia, the petals are sometimes used for garnish, while the large leaves are used as a wrap for food, not frequently eaten (for example, as a wrapper for zongzi). In Korea, the leaves and petals are used as a tisane. Yeonkkotcha (연꽃차) is made with dried petals of white lotus and yeonipcha (연잎차) is made with the leaves. Young lotus stems are used as a salad ingredient in Vietnamese cuisine. The rhizome (called ǒu (藕) in pinyin Chinese, ngau in Cantonese, Nelum Ala (නෙළුම් අල) in Sinhala thambou in Manipuri, kamal kakri inHindi, renkon (レンコン, 蓮根) in Japanese, and yeongeun (연근) in Korean) is used as a vegetable in soups, deep-fried, stir-fried, and braised dishes and the roots are also used in traditional Asian herbal medicine. Petals, leaves, and rhizome can also all be eaten raw, but there is a risk of parasite transmission (e.g., Fasciolopsis buski): it is therefore recommended that they be cooked before eating.

Lotus rhizomes

Lotus rootlets are often pickled with rice vinegar, sugar, chili and/or garlic. It has a crunchy texture with sweet-tangy flavours. In Asian cuisine, it is popular with salad, prawns, sesame oil and/or coriander leaves. Lotus roots have been found to be rich in dietary fiber, vitamin C, potassium, thiamin, riboflavin, vitamin B6, phosphorus, copper, and manganese, while very low in saturated fat.[citation needed]

The stamens can be dried and made into a fragrant herbal tea called liánhuā cha (蓮花茶) in Chinese, or (particularly in Vietnam) used to impart a scent to tea leaves. This Vietnamese lotus tea is called trà sen, chè sen, or chè ướp sen. The lotus seeds or nuts (called liánzĭ, 蓮子; or xiān liánzĭ, 鲜莲子, in Chinese) are quite versatile, and can be eaten raw or dried and popped like popcorn, phool makhana. They can also be boiled until soft and made into a paste, or boiled with dried longans and rock sugar to make a tong sui (sweet soup). Combined with sugar, lotus seed paste becomes one of the most common ingredients used in pastries such as mooncakes, daifuku, and rice flour pudding.[10]

In South Indian states, the lotus stem is sliced, marinated with salt to dry, and the dried slices are fried and used as a side dish. In Kerala (in Malayalam "താമര") and Tamil Nadu, this end product is called " Thamara Vathal". In Sri Lanka, finely sliced lotus rhizome cooked with coconut milk and spices is a popular curry known as Nelum Ala Vyanjanaya (නෙළුම් අල ව්‍යංජනය). In Vietnam, the bitter tasting germs of the lotus seeds are also made into a tisane (trà tim sen).

Lotus thread is used to weave a special robe for the Buddha. Inle lake, Myanmar.

A unique fabric from the lotus plant fibers is produced only at Inle lake, Union of Myanmar and is used for weaving special robes for Buddha images called kya thingahn (lotus robe).