Lotus in America, India, Egypt, China and Russia exists in a huge variety of colors and types. Lotus grows in ponds rich in silt. And despite all the difficulties of its emergence into the “light” from dark silt, through the water column, the lotus flower reaches for the sky and the sun. Flowers, amazing in their beauty, excite the human mind, they bloom outside the water and reach for the light of not only the Sun, but also the Moon. Therefore, you can observe the magnificence of blooming lotuses on a moonlit night.
Lotus leaves are covered with a waxy substance that protects them from dirt. This is the riddle of little water creatures. They bloom in pairs, one male and one female, making the lotus a symbol of happy couples. They bloom for 3 or 4 days, exuding a delicate aroma. The symbolism of the lotus in the consciousness of ancient and modern people is very rich ...
Lotus flower - sacred
The lotus represents purity, perfection, grace and the desire for spiritual purity since ancient times. Growing out of the mud, it never gets dirty. The special structure of its leaves and petals can repel water, while collecting all the dirt from the lotus leaf.
And it is this special property to remain pure that made the lotus a symbol of spiritual perfection: no matter what environment, good or bad, a person is, he must always maintain a clear consciousness and spiritual purity. The sign of the symbol of perfection is also confirmed by the form of all the components of this flower. The shape of its leaves, petals and even the core tend to be round, i.e. to the perfect form.
Lotus is one of the oldest flowers in the world
His longevity is impressive. The appearance of lotus flowers pleased the ancient Egyptians, and from ancient times the proverb has been preserved: "There are many lotuses on the water, fertility will be great." In 1881, during the excavation of the tomb of Pharaoh Ramses II, several blue lotus buds were found, which had been stored for 3,000 years and retained their unusual color even when dried. The realization that the dried lotus flowers made the greatest impression than the luxury of the dazzling riches of the tomb speaks of the real mysterious power and charm of flowers. And the lotus seeds found in Japan, whose age was 2000 years. After planting, the seeds sprouted again and bloomed, reminding everyone of perfection. In addition, the harvested lotus seeds were edible, as was the rest of the plant.
Lotus has been eaten since ancient times.
Lotus is a symbol of perfection. Photo from secretchina.com
The Egyptian blue lotus was grown in ancient Egypt for its rhizomes and poppy-like seeds extracted from the middle of the lotus and used to bake bread and make an intoxicating drink. Candied lotus roots taste like marmalade, while lotus flowers are used to make elite tea, as well as in perfumery. Lotus fragrance has long been considered the quintessence of all the most valuable things in this world. Therefore, in the old days in Vietnam, lotus-flavored tea was the preferred drink of the royal court, aristocrats and wealthy people. In addition, the Chinese eat stamens and stems, in their minds there is a belief that this food returns old people to their former youth. The lotus plant gave people not only delicious food, but a cure for many diseases to improve the human body.
The legend of the drink of oblivion
The writings of Herodotus and the poem "Odyssey" speak of a country where lotuses are eaten. The inhabitants of this country - "lotofags" ("lotus eaters") made a drink of oblivion from the lotus: anyone who drinks it will never want to part with the homeland of this flower. The memory of the real homeland and original intentions will be erased from the consciousness of this person. Leaving the island, Odysseus had to use force and tie his people, under the influence of flower spells, to the benches of his ship. In the middle of the 20th century, historians provided evidence that the mythological land of lotophages is a small island of Djerba, surrounded by greenery, where several types of lotus and water lilies grow.
Lotuses are used as an offering to the gods
We often find the lotus depicted on ordinary objects, in elements of architecture and painting. Buddhas (Enlightened Ones in ancient Sanskrit) are often depicted sitting on lotuses. Flowers were used as offerings to the gods. Legend has it that the sun was born from a giant lotus flower, where the sun gods regain their youth. The Japanese goddess of nature also sits on a lotus. Beautiful and fragrant lotus flowers are often compared to feminine purity and chastity and perfection.
In the minds of the Indians, there is a legend that the gods Brahma and Savaswati were born from a lotus flower. In India, the lotus is revered and is still chanted in ritual dances. If the dancer folds her hands at face level with her fingers up, this means a sleeping lotus bud, if she separates her fingers with joined hands, a blossoming plant as a symbol of perfection. The red lotus remains the emblem of India today.
The attitude of contemporaries to the symbol of perfection
Lotus is a symbol of perfection. Photo from secretchina.com
It is not for nothing that the lotus is a symbol of purity and perfection in almost all traditions. It is also given mystical properties in the modern material world, far from the quivering beliefs of our ancestors. The lotus is able to cleanse the energy field around it from negative vibrations. The aura of the room where the symbol of perfection is located becomes positive from its mere presence, experts and sensitive people say.
Lotus is often used to get rid of depression and longing. Moreover, the property of the lotus is such that it gradually removes from the state of depression. This property is in no way comparable to modern antidepressants that cause instant mood swings and addiction. This enables the human psyche and consciousness to adapt to the surrounding reality without consequences and side effects.
The ability to change a person's mind
The aura of the lotus is able to improve the consciousness of a person, to direct his thoughts to more spiritual spheres. According to spiritually developing people, the use of “lotus therapy” is especially recommended for those people who are too mired in the material world, who think only about career, money and fame, completely forgetting about the second spiritual side of their personality. If such a person carries lotus petals with him or watches this plant for at least half an hour, then gradually his consciousness will change. His nature will become more refined, he will gradually begin to turn his gaze to spiritual perfection. Do not forget about the ancient practices, where the lotus has a wider meaning than a flower that can be seen and smelled. After all, the ability to maintain a clear consciousness and a calm mind even of a modern person allows the technique of meditation, again with legs crossed in the lotus position.
The proverb says: "Lotus flowers are a ship on which a drowning man in the ocean of life can find his salvation."
Ksenia Velichko. Epoch Times
Lotus is a flower whose history goes back to ancient times. The flower itself is a large water lily, the petals and leaves of which are covered with a wax coating, so that they do not get wet and always remain above the water. Lotus has very powerful rhizomes. Leaves are underwater, floating and standing. Lotus flowers in diameter can reach up to 30 cm, are pink, cream or yellow. When a lotus blooms, its flower is always turned towards the Sun. For this reason, and also for the reason that the lotus is used in cooking and traditional medicine, this flower is considered a sacred plant in some cultures.
The lotus flower opens at dawn and closes in the evening. Early in the morning the flower can be bright pink, and in the afternoon you can distinguish shades on the flower from white to pink. It is best to pluck lotus flowers at dawn in order to use them in medicine or cooking.
The Lotus flower is listed in the Red Book. Therefore, such flowers can only be plucked in specially designated places for growing lotus for medicinal and food needs. In order to grow a lotus, it is necessary to create a pond with a size of at least 3 by 3 meters and a depth of at least 70 cm. In summer, the bottom of the reservoir must be cleaned of duckweed and branches so that the bottom and water remain clean. The ideal option is to lay out the bottom of the reservoir with pebbles so that silt does not collect at the bottom. Silt can reduce the depth of a pond, which can even lead to the death of a lotus flower. The best option for a lotus would be if the pond is shaded by a tree.
You can plant a lotus manually if planting occurs with the help of a rhizome. If seeds or germinated seeds are planted, then they can simply be thrown into the water. It is best to plant reeds along the edges of the reservoir so that the lotus is more comfortable in winter.
The lotus fruit is inside the flower, and has the shape of a cone with seeds in the form of dark-colored nuts with a very dense skin and a hole so that the embryo can breathe. Lotus seeds differ in their vitality. They can lie for several hundred years and give life as soon as they get into the right habitat. A case is known when lotus seeds lay for 1200 years and gave birth to a new flower as soon as they were placed in a pond with the necessary conditions.
There are two varieties of lotus:
Nut-bearing lotus - characterized by a large pink flower with a pleasant aroma. Flowering period - July - August. Distributed in India, China, Japan, the Far East (Russia), Australia and other regions.
Yellow lotus (American) - common in South and North America, which is why it got its name. The color of its flowers can be from cream to snow-white.
Lotus flower video:
Today, butter, flour, starch and sugar are made from lotus seeds. Lotus seeds and rhizomes are very rich in vitamin C, sugar, fats and starch. It is also used in cooking and folk medicine. At the same time, in cooking it can be used as potato dishes, since the lotus is rich in starch.
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Lotus - the sacred flower of the East - attracts many pilgrims who want to touch this shrine. Even people who are far from Buddhism, mysticism and other spiritual materialism will not remain indifferent when they see this incredibly beautiful picture at least once.
However, not every enlightened adept knows that in order to admire blooming lotuses, one does not need to go to distant lands at all! Lotuses grow in Russia too. In order to personally enjoy this spectacle, just guess the time of flowering and use the map of the area.
Picking lotuses is a stupid occupation, because the flower dries up after a few hours. But you need to see them live at least once - no photo or video frames will convey the honey-spicy aroma of flowers, the tenderness of their petals, the warmth of the leaves velvety to the touch. In a word, everyone should take a chance and see this miracle with their own eyes.
In order to live to admire the flowering of this exotic plant for many, it is enough to visit the Krasnodar Territory, the Astrakhan Region and the Far East in the summer, where this tropical plant adapted in the Cretaceous period of the Mesozoic era and still grows.
It is pleasant to note that some lotus lakes appeared due to the labors and efforts of man.
| A bit of science |
The Great Soviet Encyclopedia says that the genus "Lotus" unites only two species - Nut-bearing Lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) and Yellow Lotus (Nelumbo lutea) or American, growing mainly in the countries of North and Latin America, on the Antilles and Hawaiian islands.
The Plant List adds another species - the five-petalled lotus (Nelumbo pentapetala) discovered by botanist Merritt Lyndon Fernald in 1934.
True, later sources add two more species - the Caspian, also known as Nelumbo caspica, and the Far East, Nelumbo komarovii (the latter is also called Komarov's lotus), but with the proviso that both of these species are derivatives of the Nut-bearing lotus.
However, just give botanists a reason to argue! And lotuses are a great topic for long discussions. For example, about the taxonomy of the Nile blue lotus - the sacred flower of the Egyptians, revealing flowers at night, as well as its white counterpart, they argued for a long time, cited a lot of evidence regarding belonging either to lotuses or to water lilies - nymphs. As a result, they decided that the Flower of Osiris is still a water lily, but they called it a compromise - Nymphaea lotus. And identification was helped by the fact that in lotuses the underwater leaves are lanceolate, elongated, and only the surface leaves are round in shape, which is familiar to the eye, while in the nymphaeum, the underwater leaves are rounded.
A lot was also argued about the species of the "Joy of the Aquarist" - the Tiger Lotus, so named for its beautiful speckled leaves. As a result, we agreed that, according to the same principle, the Tiger Lotus is also a water lily.
Often, Lady Nature not only "takes her own", but also adapts someone else's to her needs. The brightest example is the Far Eastern plant Lotus Komarov, named after the botanist Vladimir Komarov by another botanist Alexander Grossheim. A tropical flower grew throughout this area - 100,000,000 years ago (Mezazoy). The climate then was, of course, milder, and the lotus felt like the owner of local reservoirs. After that, the ambient temperature began to drop, but rather slowly, and the relic, having flexibly adapted to the harsh weather conditions for it, continues to decorate the lakes of Primorsky and Khabarovsk Territories, the Amur Region.
Lotus Komarov is the most cold-resistant representative of this species, it grows closer than all other brethren to the permafrost zone and withstands frosts down to -30 ° C. The harsh climate also determined the "lifestyle" of the plant - the Komarov lotus blooms only a few weeks a year, when the temperature reaches + 20 ° C. Otherwise, its requirements are not much different from other types of lotuses - they need lakes with a muddy bottom and a sufficient amount of oxygen in the water. However, the seeds of the plant are particularly viable and retain their germination capacity well - for many years (according to some sources - up to 1040 ± 210, although there is evidence only of 400-year-old seeds sprouts, but this is also a considerable age).
As the name implies, the Caspian lotus has chosen the territory near the Caspian Sea, especially many of its habitats are located in the Volga delta and the mouth of the Kura.
However, not all places of lotus growth in our country have developed historically. Sometimes the miracle of the appearance of lotuses is the merit of a person. For example, in the city of Arseniev, Primorsky Krai, young naturalists tried, and in the village of Ivanovka, Ivanovsky District, Amur Region, the Titarenko spouses created a miracle in memory of their daughter. The lotus is also artificially grown in the lake near the village of Galkino in the Khabarovsk Territory and on Lake Lebedino in the Jewish Autonomous Region. The famous Nikitsky Botanical Garden near Yalta also has a lotus lake. At the turn of the millennium, Alexander Petrovich Palchik, a resident of the village of Staronizhesteblievskaya, also grew lotuses. In 2012, the new coat of arms and flag of the district were approved, which are decorated with the image of this flower.
According to some reports, lotuses in the Krasnodar Territory appeared artificially in the 80s of the last century, for example, they grow in the Botanical Garden of the Kuban State University. However, the village of Akhtanizovskaya has its own history - a huntsman accidentally noticed them in the estuary several years ago, before that there were no lotuses in the estuary. However, now the "plantation" of lotuses is growing rapidly, because, in addition to long-term growth from seeds, a fragile but viable flower reproduces by creeping powerful rhizomes - sometimes one plant can occupy an area of several tens or even hundreds of m².
The lotus is considered a symbol of purity for good reason - sprouting in silt, the plant raises pure leaves and flowers above the surface. This ability to self-clean, repelling water and dirt, was studied at the Clemson Institute (USA) and created, following the example of Mother Nature, a water- and dirt-repellent surface (in modern nanotechnology, biomimetics is often used - the use of "achievements" of wildlife in artificial devices).
Even Homer described in his "Odyssey" lotophages - the mysterious eaters of the lotus. There is a place for truth in the poem - the gastronomic and pharmacological properties of this flower have been known since ancient times. For example, even in ancient Egypt, cakes were baked from the seeds of this sacred plant. From time immemorial, rhizomes have been boiled, fried, ground into flour. Even now in Japan, India and China, where, by the way, this flower is considered sacred, starch is extracted from the roots and seeds, flour is made, oil is pressed and sugar is boiled, and delicacies such as candied fruit from starch-rich fleshy rhizomes and candied seeds are prepared. Any part of the plant can be eaten, except for the stems.
Lotus is not only food, but also drink. For example, a coffee-like drink is made from seeds, and in Taiwan, once called Formosa, unopened lotus buds are harvested, which are called “Formosa bud”. Tea from them has a pleasant taste and has a calming effect. Even adding just a few petals to a regular brew will give the drink a touch of celebration. However, more often such an additive can be found in ready-made oolong or pu-erh.
The sedative effect of the plant is also used in modern pharmacology - sedative preparations are created on the basis of the plant. Also, thanks to flavonoids, alkaloids and other biologically active substances, preparations of tonic, cardiotonic, restorative action are made from lotus.
The plant is used for fever, used to relieve inflammation, treat ulcers and burns. In traditional Eastern medicine - from Tibetan to Arabic - all parts of the plant are used from roots to stamens.
By the way, even old empty seed pods are used, however, in floristry and arts and crafts, where they are highly valued for their unusual shape.
The sacred lotus flower opens its petals not only over the lake surface. Its stylized images adorn cultural heritage sites, for example, ancient Egyptian bas-reliefs are decorated with an ornament depicting a white and blue lotus (but we remember that this is the Nile water lily Nymphaea lotus).
In ancient Egypt, the lotus was considered a symbol of youth, prosperity and fertility. In China, this symbol of chastity and purity was revered long before the birth of Buddhism. For the ancient Hindus, the lotus was a symbol of creativity and an image of the Universe - our world was represented by a flower that opened its petals over the endless waters, with the opening of the lotus, the Universe itself expands.
According to another group of ancient Indian beliefs, a golden lotus grew from the navel of the demiurge Vishnu, in the petals of which the creator god Brahma was born, and he, in turn, ... However, the enumeration can take quite a large amount of time and space, if desired, this information can be find on your own.
We can also see this symbol of purity on Tibetan thangkas - precious paintings on linen or cotton fabric (and sometimes silk), depicting religious motifs.
The sacred flower is often a kind of pedestal for Indian figurines. And this is not surprising, because the lotus accompanies so many deities of Hinduism and Buddhism. Some of them are born from an opened bud, under the feet of others the flowers themselves sprout, the third, according to the canon, are depicted only together with a lotus as a symbol of divinity and compassion.
The head chakra Sahasrara, located at the top of the head and responsible for the connection of the soul with the Higher Consciousness, is also called the "lotus with a thousand petals" and is depicted as an opened flower. And the most optimal yoga posture for meditation is named after the lotus.
There is a so-called Celtic (Druid) or Flower horoscope. According to him, everyone who was born from December 13 to 22 is patronized by the Lotus and endows with extraordinary thinking.
In ancient Greece, the lotus is the flower of Hera and Aphrodite. In Islam, the lotus world tree - Sidrat al-muntaha - is located near the throne of Allah in the seventh heaven.
This flower is also depicted in modern architecture - for example, the lotus inspires the Bulgarian Briton, a follower of Falun Dafa, Tsvetan Toshkov, to create masterpiece projects.
The championship in the number of "lotus" architecture belongs to China: in the shape of a lotus, the building of the country's government, a stadium in the city of Guangzhou, was built in the west of Beijing in the Chinese Autonomous Region of Inner Mongolia, it is planned to build the Lotus Hotel. India does not lag behind: the Motisons Tower building is located in Jaipur, the Baha'i temple in New Delhi is built in the shape of a blooming lotus bud. An adherent of any religion can visit it, since the basic concept of the monotheistic Baha'i faith says that the essence of all religions lies in the same thing - harmony and happiness.
| Where/when |
Astrakhan region
Flowering time: July-September
Volga Delta (For example, N46 13.632 E48 31.92). Lotuses are distributed almost everywhere in the delta; they grow in ilmens, bays, on the seashore, along the banks of numerous channels.
Erik Nikitin (you need to get to the village of Trudfront by crossing Bakhtemir by ferry) and then navigate on the spot
Erike Koshevanka, where it is even easier to get there. It is enough to leave Astrakhan through the northern part and go to the east. Before Volodarskoye, turn south and, after passing the villages of Stary Altynzhar and Altynzhar, in the Tumak area, turn right onto the bridge over the Koshevanka. Lotus Valley is located on both sides of the bridge (N46 14.077 E48 31.627)
Uvary village (Kamyzyaksky district)
Krasnodar region
Flowering time: end of June - mid-August
The lotus pond is located near the village of Sheremetyevskoye (Tbilisi region). The lake is located near the highway R-251Temryuk-Krasnodar-Kropotkin
Sinyukha River (Tbilisi region). The place is interesting because white, yellow and pink lotuses of two types bloom there at once (Far Eastern and Caspian)
Akhtanizovsky estuary (Temryuk district)
Stanitsa Golubitskaya (Temryuksky district)
Stanitsa Maryanskaya (Krasnodar region)
Stanitsa Staronizhesteblievskaya (Krasnoarmeisky district). Created a miracle Alexander Finger
The village of Belozerny (10 km from Krasnodar). The lake is located on the left after the village, next to it is a blue and white chapel
Krasnodar. Lotuses and water lilies grow in the Safari Park on Sunny Island
Taman. After driving along the Temryuk-Strelka road, near the bridge over Kazachiy Yerik, turn onto the exit and follow the signs "Lotus". The path from there will run through a man-made canal (more than 200 years ago, the Cossacks dug it to connect the Akhtanizovsky estuary with the fresh water of the Kuban River). On a small boat, the journey to the valley will take about 15 minutes
Botanical Garden of Kuban State University
Amurskaya Oblast
Lake Dolgoe (Arkharinsk district) territory of the Khingan Reserve. In this reserve are the largest thickets of lotus
Ivanovka village (Ivanovsky district). The artificial lake is located on the territory of the park of culture and recreation
The village of Sagibovo (Arkharinsk district). Lake Crooked
The village of Voikovo (Konstantinovsky district). Lake Aspen
Lake Smirnovo (Mikhailovsky district). The lake is located 7 km from the village of Kalinino
Lake Tsvetochnoe (Arkharinskiy district). The lake is located 25 km from the village. Novopokrovka
Zeya River
Primorsky Krai
Flowering time: mid-July - mid-August
Lesnoye village (Lesozavodsky district)
Lake Pants (Yakovlevsky district)
Lake Khanka
Hand Ussuri
Prikhankay lowland
Khasansky district
City of Arseniev. A few years ago, thanks to young naturalists, several lotuses appeared on the lake.
Arsenyevka river
The village of Andreevka (Yakovlevsky district). Lotuses can be seen in the Bolshoi Lake (although this lake could not be found on the maps)
Kirovsky district. Lakes in the area of the village of Pavlo-Fedorovka, in the village of Lugovoy and on Ostraya Sopka
Okeanskaya station (suburb of Vladivostok). Here, in a fenced area near the sea, there is a small lake covered with dense thickets of lotus
Putyatin Island. The lotus lake is located on Putyatin Island, where tourists are brought by boat for a small amount (stock up on rubber boots). The island can also be reached from the Danube village by ferry.
The village of Novogordeevka (Anuchinsky district, Arsenyevskaya highway). The lake is next to the road.
The village of Razdolnoye (Nadezhda district). Lotus lake is located four kilometers from Razdolnoe
The village of Kronstadtka (Spassky district)
Khabarovsk region
Flowering time: end of July - beginning of August
Amur river basin
Lake near the village of Nikolaevka (Smidovichi district). The lake can be found by driving along the Birobidzhan highway
Lake near the village of Galkino (Khabarovsk region). Having turned near the village towards the highway Khabarovsk - Komsomolsk on the Amur, you need to drive 5 minutes. Here the lotus is grown artificially
Sheremetyevo lakes
Lake Vidnoe
Ussuri Island
Pemzenskaya duct
Ulika-National village
Bureya river
Of course, these are far from all the places on the map where this unusual flower opens its delicate buds. If you have additional information about where compatriots can admire the lotus bloom, and if there is corrective information, please contact the site administration.
Snezhana Kholodova
© All rights reserved. Copying and reprinting is possible only with the permission of the author.
article added 02/12/2015
LOTUS(Nelumbo) - a genus of dicotyledonous herbaceous amphibious plants, the modified stems of which are immersed deep under water in the ground. At the same time, three types of leaves develop in the lotus: underwater, floating and surface, rising high above the surface of the water, which grow on flexible long petioles. It is the only representative of the Lotus family (Nelumbonaceae).
The flowers are always turned towards the sun, they bloom in the early morning, and close at night. Petals turn bright pink in the morning, but gradually turn pale and in the afternoon you can see an incredible range of colors - from rich pink to almost white. You can admire the lotus blooming in the thickets for a long time, since quite a lot of flowers bloom on one plant, but not at the same time, although the flower itself lives only three days.
Description, types and varieties of lotus
Lotuses have been separated into an independent family since 1829, which has the name Nelumbonaceae. This family consists of only one genus - Nelumbo and three species:
- Nut-bearing lotus, or Indian - lat. Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn., inhabitant of the Old World (1788);
- Yellow lotus, or Nile water lily, which is called the American lotus - Nelumbo lutea Pers. (1807);
- Five-petalled lotus - Nelumbo pentapetala (Walter) Fernald (1934).
This unusual aquatic plant first appeared in North Africa, but at the moment it can be found even in Southern Europe. The lotus is especially common in the tropics and the temperate zone. Nelumbo nucifera (nut-bearing) formerly known as N. speciosum (Wild) grows wild in South and Central Asia. It grows in muddy, stagnant and slowly flowing waters of the Nile and Ganges. It is this plant that is considered sacred in the eyes of the natives.
The whole plant is considered edible, and the root is a delicacy widely used for medicinal purposes. It is best to pick flowers in the predawn hour, as soon as they are ready to open towards the sun. At this time, the flowers are most fragrant and suitable for various purposes. As is already known, seeds remain viable for more than one century, but see all this on a separate page...
Or Indian(lat. Nelumbo nucifera) 
It grows in northeastern Australia, the Far East of Russia, the Philippine Islands, the Malay Archipelago, the island of Sri Lanka, as well as in India, China, and Japan. This species can be found in Kalmykia, the Volgograd region (Sredneakhtubinsky district, before reaching the village of Lebyazhya Polyana), the Astrakhan Reserve, the Krasnodar and Primorsky Territories.
The plant has large shield-like leaves rising above the water, pale green below and dark green above. Waxy coating gives a light bluish tint to the entire plant. The erect petioles reach a length of two meters, the rhizomes are quite branched, powerful and knotty. Large lotus flowers, 25-30 cm in diameter, are pink in color, have a not strong, but pleasant aroma. In the center of the flower there are many bright yellow stamens. Sufficiently large single-seeded nuts (fruits) 1.5 cm long, with a dense pericarp, are located in a cone-shaped receptacle. The first leaves of the walnut lotus appear in May, and it blooms in late July or early August. The flowering period ends in late autumn.
Nut-bearing lotus not so long ago began to be divided into two subspecies:
- Caspian lotus (Nelumbo caspica);
- Lotus Komarov (Nelumbo komarowii).
Lotus yellow, or Nile water lily(Nelumbo lutea)
It spread to the New World. It grows in the Hawaiian Islands, the coast of Central and North America, therefore it also has the name of the American lotus. This species practically does not differ from the walnut lotus, except for the color of the flowers and the duration of flowering. The flowers of this plant are bright yellow, open at sunrise in May, and fold into buds by noon. Flowering lasts no more than five days, then it sheds its petals.
(Nelumbo caspica) 
Not everyone knows that the lotus flower grows not only in the tropical latitudes of Africa or America, but is also found on the territory of our country. It is also called Astrakhan rose, Caspian or Chulpan rose. Currently, this famous pink flower lives both in artificial pools and reservoirs, and in natural environments.
The appearance of the lotus in the Caspian still causes heated debate. Some believe that it was brought by Buddhist monks from Kalmykia, while others argue that it has been preserved since the Tertiary period. The Caspian lotus was first found in the Chulpan Bay by the Russian scientist Semyon Ivanovich Gremyachinsky in August 1849. Now the flower grows in bays and lakes with very warm water. When the water level drops significantly, the plant is on land, but continues to develop. The Caspian lotus blooms at the end of summer, and by October the fruits are already ripening.
Lotus Komarov(Nelumbo komarowii)
It grows in the Far East in the Amur basin, along the lower reaches of the Ussuriysk River, on Lake Malaya Khanka, where it occupies quite extensive spaces. Here it has been preserved from past eras as a living fossil, when the climate was much warmer. He gradually adapted to the existing conditions and became frost-resistant. Usually, the silt in which its rhizomes hibernate does not freeze, but in the case of rare freezing, the plant dies.
Lotus garden varieties
In addition to the main types of lotus, there are garden varieties that were artificially bred:
- "Pygmaea Alba" is a white lotus with small flowers up to 12 cm in diameter.
- 'Lily Pons' is distinguished by having salmon or pinkish cupped flowers.
- "Kermesina" - a plant bred by a Japanese breeder, has red double flowers.
- 'Mrs Perry D. Slocum' has fairly large pink flowers that turn creamy over time.
- 'Moto Botan' is a variety bred for growing in barrels or small containers. Its flowers have a rich crimson color.
