The Beautiful Lotus

The Beautiful Lotus

The lotus is often confused with the true water lilies of genus Nymphaea, in particular N. caerulea, the "blue lotus". In fact, several older systems, such as the Bentham & Hooker system (which is widely used in the Indian subcontinent) refer to the lotus by its old synonym of Nymphaea nelumbo.

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.

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.

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.

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