• Scientific Name: Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn.
• Ref: Fruct. Sem. Pl. 1:73. 1788
• Synonyms: Nelumbium album Bercht. & J.Presl; N. asiaticum Rich.; N. caspium Eichw.; N. indicum Poir.; N. javanicum Poir.; N. nelumbo (L.) Druce; N. rheedii C.Presl; N. speciosum Willd.; N. tamara (DC.) Sweet; N. transversum C.Presl; N. turbinatum Blanco; Nelumbo caspica (Fisch.) Schipcz.; N. indica Pers.; N. komarovii Grossh.; N. speciosa G.Lawson; N. speciosa var. alba F.M.Bailey; Tamara hemisphaerica Buch.-Ham. ex Pritz.; Nymphaea nelumbo L.
• English Common Name: lotus, Indian lotus, sacred lotus, bean of India, Egyptian bean
• Chinese Common Name: 莲 lián, 莲花 liánhuā, 荷花 héhuā, 芙蕖 fúqú, 芙蓉 fúróng, 菡萏 hàndàn
• Japanese Common Name: ハス [蓮] hasu
• Family: Nelumbonaceae
• Genus: Nelumbo
• Distribution: Lakes, ponds, cultivated. Throughout China except Nei Mongol, Qinghai, and Xizang [Bhutan, India, Indonesia (Java), Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, New Guinea, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia (Far East), Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam; SW Asia, Australia]. This species is cultivated for its edible rhizomes and seeds.
• Photo: West Lake, Hangzhou, Zhejiang

Petiole 1--2 m, terete, fistulous, glabrous or papillae hard and scattered; leaf blade abaxially blue-green, orbicular, 25--90 cm in diam., papery, glabrous, glaucous, water-repellent, margin entire. Flowers 10--23 cm in diam.; peduncles longer than petioles, glabrous or sparsely spinulate. Tepals caducous, pink or white, oblong-elliptic to obovate, 5--10 × 3--5 cm. Stamens slightly longer than receptacle; filament slender; anther linear, 1--2 mm; connective appendage clavate, to 7 mm, incurved. Receptacle accrescent, turbinate, 5--10 cm in diam. Fruit oblong to ovoid, 1.0--2.0 × 7--15 cm, glabrous; pericarp thick, hardened. Fl. Jun--Aug. 2n = 16. (Flora of China)

06/21/2009, South China Botanical Garden, Guangdong