Nymphaea lotus
(white Egyptian lotus)

Preferred Common Name

• white Egyptian lotus

Other Scientific Names

• Castalia edulis Salisb.
• Castalia lotus Tratt.
• Castalia mystica Salisb.
• Castalia pubescens Wood
• Castalia sacra Salisb.
• Nymphaea dentata Schumach. & Thonn.
• Nymphaea liberiensis A. Chev.
• Nymphaea lotus var. rogeonii A. Chev

International Common Names

• English: Egyptian water-lily; tiger lotus; white lotus; white water-lily
• French: lotier d’Egypte

Local Common Names

• Angola: mbandu
• Benin: sotodyame
• Burkina Faso: béli
• Congo: itookopeli; kilonga-longa; mitoko-toko
• Czech Republic: leknín posvátný
• Egypt: bashneen abiad
• Gabon: lotus tigré; nénuphar blanc
• Germany: ägyptische Lotosblume; weiße ägyptische Seerose; weiße ägyptischer Lotus
• Ghana: kùlchí
• India: aambal; alli; kumud
• Japan: nettai suiren
• Korea, DPR: sulyeon
• Madagascar: agoagga; retsimilana; voahirana
• Niger: bâdo; baloli; bödo; dundu; nénuphar; tikindint
• Nigeria: ira; osibata
• Norway: bokmål
• Poland: grzybienee egipskie
• Portugal: golfão-vermelho
• Senegal: agname; bakoyo
• Serbia: Egyptowska lotoska
• Slovakia: lekno Egyptské
• Spain: lirio de agua egipcio; loto; lotus egipci
• Sri Lanka: ambal; olu
• Sudan: suteib
• Sweden: egyptisk vitlotus
• Thailand: bua kin saai
• Uganda: lora
• Vietnam: súng

• Domain: Eukaryota
•     Kingdom: Plantae
•         Phylum: Spermatophyta
•             Subphylum: Angiospermae
•                 Class: Dicotyledonae
•                     Order: Nymphaeales
•                         Family: Nymphaeaceae
•                             Genus: Nymphaea
•                                 Species: Nymphaea lotus

The family Nymphaeaceae is made up of approximately 75 species across six genera. The genus Nymphaea is the most important horticulturally, containing 44 accepted species names (The Plant List, 2013) and nearly 250 cultivars, 80 of which are tropical day-bloomers and 15 tropical night-bloomers (Les, 2003).

Nymphaea lotus, a floating leafed macrophyte, is a perennial aquatic herb with large white flowers held above the water and was named by Linnaeus in 1753. Nymphaea originates via Latin from Greek meaning a grotto or shrine dedicated to a nymph or nymphs. Lotus originates via Latin from Greek Lotos, of Semitic origin (Annang and Addo-Boadu, 2012; Oxford Dictionary, 2015).

An outlying population in Romania, southeastern Europe is recognised as N. lotus var. thermalis (DC.) Tuzson (The Plant List, 2013), however USDA-ARS (2016) lists N. lotus L. forma thermalis (DC.) Tuzson as a synonym of N. lotus.

The following description is taken from Flora of North America Editorial Committee (2016):

Rhizomes branched or unbranched, erect, ovoid; stolons slender. Leaves: petiole sparsely to densely puberulent. Leaf blade abaxially purplish, adaxially green, nearly orbiculate, to ca. 3 × 3 dm, margins spinose-dentate; venation radiate and prominent centrally, without web-like pattern, principal veins ca. 15; surfaces abaxially sparsely to densely puberulent. Flowers emersed, 12-25 cm diam., opening nocturnally, many flowers not closing until late morning, only sepals and outermost petals in distinct whorls of 4; sepals abaxially uniformly green, prominently veined, lines of insertion on receptacle not prominent; petals 16-20, white; stamens ca. 75, yellow, outer with connective appendage projecting less than 2 mm beyond anther; filaments widest below middle, slightly shorter to longer than anthers; pistil ca. 20(-30)-locular, appendages at margin of stigmatic disk linear, 6-12 mm. Seeds ellipsoid, 1.4-1.8 × 0.9-1.2 mm, ca. 1.5-1.6 times as long as broad, with longitudinal ridges bearing papillae 20-150 µm. Flowering spring-summer.

There are records from Loddiges Nursery in the UK that N. lotus was first introduced into western cultivation in 1802 (Encyclopedia of Life, 2015).

According to Wiersema (1982), prior to 1940 no records of N. lotus exist from the American tropics, though this may be due to it being overlooked by collectors as herbarium records indicate that it was being cultivated. Wiersema suggests that the appearance of N. lotus in South and Central America can be attributed to local introduction through cultivation, probably in the last century, with it then becoming naturalized.

Natural Dispersal

Propagation of N. lotus occurs by seed, suckers or rhizomes (PROTA, 2016). The seeds of N. lotus are dispersed by water (Les, 2003). In Egypt, it has rapidly invaded newly created rice fields from neighbouring irrigation canals (Khedr and Hegazy, 1998).

Vector Transmission

Seeds of the plant can be dispersed by animals (Les, 2003).

Intentional Introduction

Lozano and Brundu (2018) report that N. lotus has escaped after being intentionally introduced into South America as an ornamental.

N. lotus produces a dense mat-like canopy that is heavy enough to break tillers of rice during vegetative growth periods and can reduce crop yield, particularly in direct seeded rice (Mohamed and Serag, 2003). However, Khedr and Hegazy (1998) suggest that this is likely due to the equilibrium between weed communities and rice husbandry not yet being met. The plant has also been reported as a weed of fish ponds in Nigeria (Adesina et al., 2015).

In Louisiana, USA, the plant is listed as a Tier II invasive species, (having moderate negative impacts on wildlife or natural communities in Louisiana, but of limited concern and/or extent), but with no further details provided (Lousiana Department of Widlife and Fisheries, 2015).

N. lotus was significant to pharaonic Egypt. It has been found on a limestone relief on a tomb dating 2500 BC, in the burial tomb of Ramesses II and Herodotus (464-425 B.C.) described the annual harvest during the flooding of the River Nile plains. The ancients believed that the lotus flower gave them strength and power and it was significant in their lives as food, for the treatment of ailments and as a perfume (Kandeler and Ullrich, 2009; Encyclopedia of Life, 2015).

Its usage medicinally and for food has continued (Mohamad and Serag, 2003) and it is now also traded as a freshwater aquarium plant.

• Invasive in its native range
• Proved invasive outside its native range

• Negatively impacts agriculture
• Negatively impacts livelihoods

• Competition - monopolizing resources
• Competition - shading

• Highly likely to be transported internationally accidentally
• Highly likely to be transported internationally deliberately

Economic Value

N. lotus has many uses as a human food; the flower stalks are eaten raw or cooked, seeds are pickled or roasted, unripe fruits are eaten raw and tubers are consumed raw or roasted for the starch, or ground into flour after drying. Once dried the stems can be used as a herbal tea (Irvine and Trickett, 1953; Paul and Barbaruah, 2013; Encyclopedia of Life, 2015). Flour from the pounded tubers can be stored for a number of months (PROTA, 2016).

Social Benefit

The leaves, petioles, roots and seeds are all used in medicine in Nigeria (Lim, 2014) and both menthanolic and ethanolic extracts from the plant have been shown to have antimicrobial activity (Abu Ziada et al., 2008; Akinjogunia et al., 2009). Antibacterial activity against fish pathogens has also been reported for N. lotus extract (Adelakun et al., 2015). The use of N. lotus rhizome as an antidiarrhoeal agent, for which it is commonly employed in Nigeria, was investigated by Bello et al. (2016) who found that the methanol rhizome extract of the plant contains pharmacologically active substances with antidiarrhoeal properties.

Environmental Services

N. lotus could possibly be used for the removal of heavy metals from polluted water sources (Mohamed and Serag, 2003).