Nelumbo nucifera - Sacred Lotus

❏ Binomial Name : Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn.

❏ Synonym : Nelumbo nelumbo, Nelumbo indica, Nelumbium speciosum

❏ Family : Nelumbonaceae

❏ Common Name : Sacred Lotus

❏ Tamil Name : Tamarai, Ambal

❏ Hindi Name : Kamal, Pundarika, Padma

❏ IUCN status: Not Evaluated

Nelumbo nucifera Botanical Description

Perennial aquatic herb. Roots adventitious. Leaves simple, solitary; stipulate; Petiole upto 2 m long, lamina 20-80 cm across, suborbicular, dark green above, paler beneath, glabrous and glaucous on both surface, coriaceous, shallowly notched and apiculate at one side, terminating in a simple vein, membranous when dry. Flowers solitary, rose-pink, Sepals 1.5-2.5 x 0.5-0.6 cm, linear-elliptic, concave, obtuse, with midrib distinct near at apex and produced into a 3-5 cm long tail; corolla shorter than sepals, green outside, purplish inside; Stamens 2-2.5 mm long, fertile, incurved. Fruit berry 1-1.5 cm across. Seeds globose, 1 mm across, brown, spinulose. Fl. & Fr.: May - Nov.

Nelumbo nucifera Medicinal uses:

❀ Petioles eaten as vegetable. Ripe carpel, seeds are eaten either raw or cooked.

❀ The stamens are used to flavour tea

❀ The leaf juice is used in the treatment of diarrhoea

❀ A decoction of the flowers is used in the treatment of premature ejaculation