Nelumbo nucifera, also known as Indian lotus, sacred lotus, bean of India, or simply lotus, is one of two species of aquatic plant in the family Nelumbonaceae.
While all advanced plant scientific classification frameworks concur that this species has a place in the family Nelumbo, the frameworks differ as to which family Nelumbo ought to be set in, or whether the sort ought to have a place in its own particular novel family and request.
The lotus is frequently mistaken for the water lilies (Nymphaea, specifically Nymphaea caerulea, infrequently called the "blue lotus"). Truth be told, a few more established frameworks, for example, Bentham and Hooker (which is broadly utilized as a part of the Indian subcontinent) call the lotus Nymphaea nelumbo or Nymphaea stellata. This is, nonetheless, developmentally wrong, as the lotus and water-lilies are for all intents and purposes disconnected. A long way from being in the same family, Nymphaea and Nelumbo are individuals from distinctive requests (Nymphaeales and Proteales separately).
The foundations of lotus are planted in the dirt of the lake or waterway base, while the leaves glide on top of the water surface or are held well above it. The blooms are normally found on thick stems rising a few centimeters over the takes off. The plant regularly grows up to a stature of around 150 cm and a flat spread of up to 3 meters, however some unsubstantiated reports put the tallness as high as more than 5 meters. The leaves may be as vast as 60 cm in width, while the flashy blossoms can be dependent upon 20 cm in distance across.
Analysts report that the lotus has the surprising capacity to manage the temperature of its blooms to inside a thin range generally as people and other warmblooded creatures do.Dr Roger S. Seymour and Dr. Paul Schultze-Motel, physiologists at the University of Adelaide in Australia, found that lotus blossoms blossoming in the Adelaide Botanic Gardens kept up a temperature of 30–35 °C (86–95 °F), actually when the air temperature dropped to 10 °C (50 °F). They think the blossoms may be doing this to draw in wanton creepy crawly pollinators. The study, distributed in the diary Nature, is the most recent revelation in the field of thermoregulation, warmth creating, plants. Two different species known to have the capacity to direct their temperature incorporate Symplocarpus foetidus and Philodendron selloum.
An individual lotus can live for over a thousand years and has the uncommon capacity to restore into action after stasis. In 1994, a seed from a sacrosanct lotus, dated at around 1,300 years of age 270 years, was effectively.
The unmistakable dried seed heads, which look like the spouts of watering jars, are generally sold all through the world for brightening purposes and for dried bloom organizing.
The blooms, seeds, youthful leaves, and "roots" (rhizomes) are all palatable. In Asia, the petals are infrequently utilized for embellishment, while the substantial leaves are utilized as a wrap for nourishment, not often eaten (for instance, as a wrapper for zongzi). In Korea, the leaves and petals are utilized as a tisane. Yeonkkotcha (연꽃차) is made with dried petals of white lotus and yeonipcha (연잎차) is made with the takes off. Youthful lotus stems are utilized as a serving of mixed greens fixing as a part of Vietnamese food. The rhizome (called ǒu (藕) in pinyin Chinese, ngau in Cantonese, thambou in Manipuri, kamal kakri in Hindi, renkon (レンコン, 蓮根 in Japanese), yeongeun (연근 in Korean) is utilized as a vegetable as a part of soups, rotisserie, blend broiled, and braised dishes and the roots are likewise utilized as a part of conventional Asian home grown solution. Petals, leaves, and rhizome can likewise all be eaten crude, however there is a danger of parasite transmission (e.g., Fasciolopsis buski): it is subsequently suggested that they be cooked before eating.
Lotus rootlets are regularly cured with rice vinegar, sugar, stew and/or garlic. It has a crunchy surface with sweet-tart flavors. In Asian cooking, it is mainstream with serving of mixed greens, prawns, sesame oil and/or coriander takes off. Lotus roots have been discovered to be rich in dietary fiber, vitamin C, potassium, thiamin, riboflavin, vitamin B6, phosphorus, copper, and manganese, while low in soaked fat.
