Nelumbo nucifera – Vietnam Red Lotus Water Lily – 5 Seed Pack
R75,00
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Nelumbo is a genus of aquatic plants with large, showy flowers. Members are commonly called lotus, though the name is also applied to various other plants and plant groups, including the unrelated genus Lotus. Members outwardly resemble those in the family Nymphaeaceae (“water lilies”), but Nelumbo is actually very distant to that family. There are only two known living species of lotus; Nelumbo nucifera is native to East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia and probably Australia, and is better-known. It is commonly cultivated; it is eaten and used in traditional Chinese medicine. The other lotus is Nelumbo lutea, which is native to North America and the Caribbean. Horticultural hybrids have been produced between these two allopatric species.
Nelumbo nucifera is known by a number of common names, including blue lotus, Indian lotus, sacred lotus, bean of India, and sacred water-lily. Botanically, Nelumbo nucifera may also be referred to by its former names, Nelumbium speciosum or Nymphaea nelumbo. This plant is an aquatic perennial, but if its seeds are preserved under favourable circumstances, they may remain viable for many years. N. nucifera was native to a huge area from modern Vietnam to Afghanistan, being spread widely as an ornamental and edible food plant.It is the National Flower of India and Vietnam. The roots of Nelumbo nucifera are planted in the soil of the pond or river bottom, while the leaves float on top of the water surface. The flowers are usually found on thick stems rising several centimetres above the water. There are a number of different cultivars, the flower colours varying from snow white to yellow to a light pink. It is hardy to USDA Zone 5. The plant can be propagated from seeds or rhizomes. The oldest seed that has yet been germinated into a viable plant was an approximately 1,300-year-old lotus fruit, recovered from a dry lakebed in north-eastern China. An individual lotus can live for over a thousand years and has the rare ability to revive into activity after stasis. Nelumbo nucifera contain the psychoactive alkaloids nuciferine and aporphine. 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. The rhizome is a common soup or stir-fry ingredient and is the part most commonly consumed. 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 are cooked before eating.
Nelumbo nucifera Vietnam Red is the national flower of Vietnam.