Giant White Sacred Lotus

Description:

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelumbo_nuc... Nelumbo nucifera, known by numerous common names including Indian lotus, sacred lotus, bean of India, or simply lotus, is one of two species of aquatic plant in the family Nelumbonaceae. The Linnaean binomial Nelumbo nucifera (Gaertn.) is the currently recognized name for this species, which has been classified under the former names, Nelumbium speciosum (Willd.) and Nymphaea nelumbo, among others. Names other than Nelumbo nucifera (Gaertn.) are obsolete synonyms and should not be used in current works. This plant is an aquatic perennial. A common misconception is referring to the lotus as a water lily (Nymphaea), an entirely different plant, as can be seen in the center of the flowers, which lack the structure that goes on to form the distinctive circular seed pod in the Nelumbo nucifera.

Habitat:

Native to Tropical Asia and Queensland, Australia, it is commonly cultivated in water gardens. The pink variety is also the national flower of India and Vietnam.

Notes:

It is one foot across when fully open. "The lotus plant is more closely related to Platanus or the sycamore also known as the plane tree and the members of the family Proteaceae!! A closer look by botanists revealed many similar features in the floral and vegetative morphologies between the members of lotus, sycamore and proteas." says http://www.simple-expressions.org/2007/1...