Nymphaea nouchali
Encyclopedia
Nymphaea nouchali, commonly known as the Red and blue water lily, Blue star water lily, Star lotus, or by its synonym Nymphaea stellata, is a water lily
of genus Nymphaea
.
area. It was spread to other countries already in ancient times and has been long valued as a garden flower in Thailand
and Myanmar
to decorate ponds and gardens.
In its natural state the Red and blue water-lily is found in static or slow-flowing aquatic habitats of little to moderate depth.
Nymphaea nouchali is a day blooming nonviviparous plant with submerged roots and stems. Part of the leaves are submerged, while others rise slightly above the surface. The leaves are round and green on top; they usually have a darker underside. The floating leaves have undulating edges that give them a crenellate appearance. Their size is about 20–23 cm and their spread is 0.9 to 1.8 m
This water-lily has a beautiful flower which is usually violet blue in color with reddish edges. Some varieties have white, purple, mauve
or fuchsia
-colored flowers. The flower has 4-5 sepal
s and 13-15 petal
s that have an angular appearance making the flower look star-shaped from above. The cup-like calyx has a diameter of 11–14 cm.
Nymphaea nouchali is the National flower of Bangladesh
(where it is known as "Shapla") and Sri Lanka
(where it is known as Nil Mānel or "Nil Mahanel"). Since "Nil" means ‘blue’ in Sinhala, the Sinhalese name of this plant is often rendered as "blue lotus
" in English.
In Sri Lanka this plant usually grows in buffalo
ponds and natural wetlands.
Its beautiful aquatic flower has been mentioned in Sanskrit
, Pali
and Sinhala literary works since ancient times under the names "Kuvalaya", "Indhīwara", "Niluppala", "Nilothpala" and "Nilupul" as a symbol of virtue, discipline and purity. Buddhist lore in Sri Lanka claims that this flower was one of the 108 auspicious signs found on Prince Siddhartha
's footprint. It is said that when Buddha died, lotus flowers blossomed everywhere he had walked in his lifetime.
The star lotus might have been one of the plants eaten by the Lotophagi of Homer
's Odyssey
.
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The Red and blue water-lily is used as an ornamental plant because of its spectacular flowers. It is also popular as an aquarium plant under the name "Dwarf Lily" or "Dwarf Red Lily". Sometimes it is grown for its flowers, while other aquarists prefer to trim the lily pads, and just have the underwater foliage.
Nymphaea nouchali is considered a medicinal plant in Indian Ayurvedic medicine under the name Ambal; it was mainly used to treat indigestion. Recent experiments have confirmed that it has medicinal qualities as an antihepatotoxic and antidiabetic. Like all waterlilies or lotuses, its tuber
s and rhizome
s can be used as food items; they are eaten usually boiled or roasted. In the case of the Red and blue water-lily, its tender leaves and flower peduncles are also valued as food.
The dried plant is collected from ponds, tanks and marshes during the dry season and used in India as animal forage
.
Nymphaeaceae
Nymphaeaceae is a family of flowering plants. Members of this family are commonly called water lilies and live in freshwater areas in temperate and tropical climates around the world. The family contains eight genera. There are about 70 species of water lilies around the world. The genus...
of genus Nymphaea
Nymphaea
Nymphaea is a genus of aquatic plants in the family Nymphaeaceae. There are about 50 species in the genus, which has a cosmopolitan distribution.-Name:The common name, shared with some other genera in the same family, is Water Lily....
.
Distribution and habitat
This aquatic plant is native to the Indian SubcontinentIndian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent, Indo-Pak Subcontinent or South Asian Subcontinent is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate from the Hindu Kush or Hindu Koh, Himalayas and including the Kuen Lun and Karakoram ranges, forming a land mass which extends...
area. It was spread to other countries already in ancient times and has been long valued as a garden flower in Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
and Myanmar
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
to decorate ponds and gardens.
In its natural state the Red and blue water-lily is found in static or slow-flowing aquatic habitats of little to moderate depth.
Description
This water-lily has a beautiful flower which is usually violet blue in color with reddish edges. Some varieties have white, purple, mauve
Mauve
Mauve is a pale lavender-lilac color, one of many in the range of purples. The color mauve is named after the mallow flower....
or fuchsia
Fuchsia (color)
Fuchsia is a vivid reddish or pinkish purple color named after the flower of the fuchsia plant, itself named after the German scientist Leonhart Fuchs...
-colored flowers. The flower has 4-5 sepal
Sepal
A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms . Collectively the sepals form the calyx, which is the outermost whorl of parts that form a flower. Usually green, sepals have the typical function of protecting the petals when the flower is in bud...
s and 13-15 petal
Petal
Petals are modified leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They often are brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. Together, all of the petals of a flower are called a corolla. Petals are usually accompanied by another set of special leaves called sepals lying...
s that have an angular appearance making the flower look star-shaped from above. The cup-like calyx has a diameter of 11–14 cm.
Symbolism
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
(where it is known as "Shapla") and Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
(where it is known as Nil Mānel or "Nil Mahanel"). Since "Nil" means ‘blue’ in Sinhala, the Sinhalese name of this plant is often rendered as "blue lotus
Blue lotus
Blue lotus may refer to:* Nymphaea caerulea, also known as the Blue Egyptian water lily, an aquatic flower native to Egypt* Nymphaea nouchali, also known as the Red and blue water lily, Blue star water lily or Star lotus,an aquatic flower native to the Indian subcontinent* Nelumbo nucifera, also...
" in English.
In Sri Lanka this plant usually grows in buffalo
Water buffalo
The water buffalo is a domesticated bovid widely kept in Asia, Europe and South America.Water buffalo can also refer to:*Wild water buffalo , the wild ancestor of the domestic water buffalo...
ponds and natural wetlands.
Its beautiful aquatic flower has been mentioned in Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
, Pali
Páli
- External links :* *...
and Sinhala literary works since ancient times under the names "Kuvalaya", "Indhīwara", "Niluppala", "Nilothpala" and "Nilupul" as a symbol of virtue, discipline and purity. Buddhist lore in Sri Lanka claims that this flower was one of the 108 auspicious signs found on Prince Siddhartha
Gautama Buddha
Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
's footprint. It is said that when Buddha died, lotus flowers blossomed everywhere he had walked in his lifetime.
The star lotus might have been one of the plants eaten by the Lotophagi of Homer
Homer
In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
's Odyssey
Odyssey
The Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other work ascribed to Homer. The poem is fundamental to the modern Western canon, and is the second—the Iliad being the first—extant work of Western literature...
.
Uses
Nymphaea nouchali is considered a medicinal plant in Indian Ayurvedic medicine under the name Ambal; it was mainly used to treat indigestion. Recent experiments have confirmed that it has medicinal qualities as an antihepatotoxic and antidiabetic. Like all waterlilies or lotuses, its tuber
Tuber
Tubers are various types of modified plant structures that are enlarged to store nutrients. They are used by plants to survive the winter or dry months and provide energy and nutrients for regrowth during the next growing season and they are a means of asexual reproduction...
s and rhizome
Rhizome
In botany and dendrology, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes...
s can be used as food items; they are eaten usually boiled or roasted. In the case of the Red and blue water-lily, its tender leaves and flower peduncles are also valued as food.
The dried plant is collected from ponds, tanks and marshes during the dry season and used in India as animal forage
Forage
Forage is plant material eaten by grazing livestock.Historically the term forage has meant only plants eaten by the animals directly as pasture, crop residue, or immature cereal crops, but it is also used more loosely to include similar plants cut for fodder and carried to the animals, especially...
.
See also
- Nymphaea caeruleaNymphaea caeruleaNymphaea caerulea, also known as the Blue Egyptian water lily or sacred blue lily, is a water-lily in the genus Nymphaea.-Distribution:Its original habitat may have been along the Nile and other locations in East Africa...
, the Egyptian blue lotus or sacred lotus - Nymphaea lotusNymphaea lotusNymphaea lotus, the Tiger Lotus, White lotus or Egyptian White Water-lily, is a flowering plant of the family Nymphaeaceae-Description:It grows in various parts of East Africa and Southeast Asia....
, the white lotus or Egyptian white water-lily - List of freshwater aquarium plant species
External links
- http://www.srilankareptile.com. Sri Lanka Reptile Database.
- Taxon: Nymphaea stellata Willd. - Synonym of Nymphaea nouchali Burm. f.
- Perry D. Slocum: Waterlilies and Lotuses. Timber Press 2005, ISBN 0881926841 (restricted online version at Google Books)
- Ambal (Nymphaea stellata) - Flowers of India - Kerala Ayurvedics
- M. K. Kaul, Medicinal plants of Kashmir and Ladakh, 1997